Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal and policy framework governing financial regulation and I am precluded from intervening in commercial and operational decisions in any particular bank, even one in which the State has a shareholding.

Decisions in this regard are the sole responsibility of the board and management of the banks, which must be run on an independent and commercial basis.

The European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 transpose Directive 2015/2366/EU on payment services and took effect in Ireland from 13 January 2018. These Regulations provide that Payment Service Providers must provide their customers with statements of the relevant details of individual payment transactions on paper or another durable medium in a clear and comprehensible manner.

The Payment Service Provider must provide the customer with the option to receive this information “at least once a month, free of charge and in an agreed manner which allows the payer to store and reproduce information unchanged”.

The Central Bank's Consumer Protection Code also sets out that a regulated entity must inform a consumer that he or she may request statements relating to term and notice deposit accounts, credit and investment products to be provided on paper and, if requested by the consumer, the regulated entity must provide these statements on paper to the consumer.