Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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65. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that as a consequence of closures of branches by a bank (details supplied), there are no ATM facilities in Moate, County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62375/21]

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.

Notwithstanding this, officials in my Department referred your question to Bank of Ireland who advised that there are ATMs located in Al’s Store and Centra in Moate.