Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 December 2020
225. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Finance his views on changes to bank charges at banks (details supplied); if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this may lead to substantial increases for some customers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40185/20]
View answerI wish to highlight that as Minister for Finance, I have no role to play in commercial decisions made by any bank, including product pricing and fee structures. This applies equally to the banks 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 independence of the banks is protected by Relationship Frameworks which are legally binding documents and which 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 Relationship Frameworks for AIB and BOI can be found at the following links:
https://assets.gov.ie/5905/220119170216-48b36141fde24091b6038e380bdf53a7.pdf.
https://assets.gov.ie/5902/220119165518-368886e707b94e0dbbc758784b38c9ad.pdf.
