Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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17. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the closure of a bank (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48425/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, as Minister for Finance, I have no role in the commercial decisions made by any bank in the State. This includes banks in which the State has a shareholding.

Decisions in this regard, including the management of branch networks, are the sole responsibility of the board and management of the banks which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. The independence of banks in which the State has a shareholding is protected by Relationship Frameworks which are legally binding documents that cannot be changed unilaterally. These frameworks which are publicly available, were insisted upon by the European Commission to protect competition in the Irish market. The AIB Relationship Framework can be accessed on the Department's website.

With regards to the AIB branch the Deputy has referred to, officials in my Department have been provided with the following update from AIB:

"The AIB branch in Rathkeale, Co. Limerick is not closing. While the branch will no longer offer over the counter cash services, the team in Rathkeale will continue to personally support and advise their customers on their financial needs, be it account opening, mortgages, business or personal loans or financial planning. The branch remains open Monday from 10am – 5pm and Tuesday – Friday from 10am to 4pm.

Through AIB’s partnership with An Post, our customers can continue to conduct the vast majority of their day to day banking transactions through their local post office, located on Thomas Street, Rathkeale. These services, available to Personal and Business customers, include cash withdrawal, cash and coin lodgements. More banking services will become available in the Post Office from November 29th , including an 'off counter' facility for business customers to enable faster lodgements. These services are listed below and the Post Office has longer opening hours than the AIB branch, including Saturday opening.

The team in Rathkeale is in ongoing contact with customers about this change and to ensure any individual issues are addressed. Customers will be able to access full banking services at AIB branches in Newcastle West and also in Adare."