Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2020
66. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Finance if he has made contact with a bank (details supplied) to discuss the temporary closure of more than 100 branches and the future of same; if he will write to the bank seeking a timeline for the reopening of the branches; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10680/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, I have engaged and will continue to engage extensively with the Banking and Payments Federation (BPFI) and the banks directly in relation to supports for personal and business customers affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Furthermore, officials in my Department are alert to issues raised directly by the public and these inform the Department’s ongoing engagement process and policy formation. All the banks, Bank of Ireland included, have continued to evolve and expand the supports they have available and I would expect that this process will continue.
Bank of Ireland has introduced a wide variety of solutions designed to help both personal and business customers affected by the COVID-19 crisis including mortgage breaks, cash flow supports for businesses and banking arrangements for customers who are cocooning/self-isolating.
The Deputy may also be aware that as Minister for Finance, I am precluded from intervening in how Bank of Ireland manages its day-to-day business and relationship with any of its customers. Decisions in this regard are solely the responsibility of the board and management of the bank which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. The independence of the 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.
Notwithstanding this, officials in the Department have requested a comment from Bank of Ireland in relation to the manner in which it is managing its branch network during the current crisis and have received the following response:
“Due to COVID-19 Bank of Ireland has made a number of operational changes to safeguard critical services during the pandemic, respond to a significant shift in how customers are banking, and support social distancing requirements.
"To safeguard critical services we prioritised one hundred and sixty one of our larger branches nationwide, as well as our contact centres and online banking which have seen a surge in use over recent months. One hundred and one mainly smaller locations, which had seen a sharp drop in usage, were closed. Colleagues from these locations have been supporting our contact centres and online services manage high volumes of requests, as well as our larger branches where social distancing can be better maintained.
"We're continuing to see shifts in customer behaviour towards online banking channels, and social distancing requirements remain in place. Our focus therefore remains on protecting the prioritised services across one hundred and sixty one branches, telephone and online banking, while keeping all developments under active review."
I note that, subsequent to receiving this response from the BOI, the bank issued a press release on 8 June announcing that it was reopening the majority of the relevant branches highlighting that branches in colleges, hospitals and airports will remain closed. BOI’s press release is this regard can be found at the following link:
https://www.bankofireland.com/about-bank-of-ireland/press-releases/2020/bank-of-ireland-announces-update-to-covid-19-services-and-supports/
