Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 November 2021
114. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Finance if discussions are expected with senior officials of a bank (details supplied) regarding the future use of its soon to be vacated units in towns and villages across Ireland; if consideration has been given to the repurposing of these units as community digital hubs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54245/21]
View answerAs 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 premises, 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 Bank of Ireland Relationship Framework can be found on my department's website.
