Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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206. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has had any recent discussions with the Central Bank in relation to the need to extend the deadline with banks (details supplied) to exit the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55997/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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While it is regrettable that Ulster Bank and KBC have decided to exit the market, as Minister for Finance, I do not have a role in the operations of any bank operating within the State. Decisions in this regard are commercial matters and are the sole responsibility of the board and management of the banks, which must be run on an independent and commercial basis.

My priority now is that the withdrawals take place in an orderly manner and the importance of this is emphasised in all engagements with Ulster Bank and KBC. Both banks are meeting with my officials and providing relevant information regarding account closures to the Department of Finance on a monthly basis. This will help to identify any emerging trends and potential issues for consumers.

The Central Bank continues to actively engage with the banking sector as part of its supervisory programme on retail bank consolidation. Officials in my Department are also engaging regularly with the Central Bank, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and the Banking Payments Federation of Ireland to ensure a cohesive approach regarding consumer protection and information provision, along with discussing emerging trends and issues affecting consumers.

Both banks are providing their customers with six months’ notice to close their account(s) and have committed not to close any branches this year.

As part of the Central Bank's supervisory engagement, it has met with the CEO's of the five main retail banks a number of times over the summer in relation to the large scale migration of customer accounts and outlined the need for better planning, customer focused arrangements, proactive communications and system wide engagement.

In September, the Central Bank began publishing monthly statistics on account migration. Migration activity has been in line with the expectations of the Central Bank to date. On 12 October, the Central Bank statistics showed that in the first nine months of the year:

- 31 per cent of KBC and Ulster Bank accounts had closed, and

- 718,112 (current and deposit) accounts were opened in the three main remaining banks.

While the numbers are encouraging, the focus must continue to be on ensuring adequate resources and training are in place to ensure a positive customer experience. The next statistical release is expected tomorrow.

My officials and I will continue to monitor the migration of current accounts from the exiting banks and engage with relevant stakeholders, both public and private, to ensure that impacted customers face the least amount of disruption in migrating their accounts over the coming months.