Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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307. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason that he approved, as the majority shareholder in a bank (details supplied), an arrangement whereby mortgages transferring from a bank are to be outsourced to and serviced by a company once the business is transferred to the bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63416/21]

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 specific servicing arrangements for a loan book, 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 Permanent TSB Relationship Framework can be accessed on my Department's website. 

Officials from my Department contacted Permanent TSB on this matter and the following comment was provided:

"It is currently envisaged that Permanent TSB will partner with Pepper Finance Corporation (Ireland) DAC trading as Pepper Asset Servicing (“Pepper”) to support the servicing of the Ulster Bank mortgage book being acquired by Permanent TSB.

"This servicing arrangement will have no impact on customers and is subject to the completion of contractual and regulatory processes. Any employees who may have a right to transfer to Pepper will also be offered a role within Permanent TSB. Pepper Finance Corporation (Ireland) DAC trading as Pepper Asset Servicing (“Pepper”) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland".