Mayo senator calls for new plan for future of banking sector

A Mayo senator has stated her heart goes out the 2,800 staff who work in the 88 branches and to the one million customers who bank with Ulster Bank following the announcement of its imminent closure.

Senator Lisa Chambers elaborated: "It is a worrying development for the banking sector in Ireland.

"Effectively, it means that we have a duopoly in commercial business loans.

"We now have a situation whereby a bank that has 15% of the mortgage market in the State and a loan book worth €20 billion is now to begin the process of winding down and selling off all of that business.

"There is a huge body of work on the part of the State to do what it can to protect the jobs, the staff and the customers who bank with Ulster Bank.

"I have read reports that AIB is seeking to buy what has been termed the crown jewels, the commercial loan book, from Ulster Bank, but what about those loans that are not performing at 100%?

"What about those loans that are on the margins? More and more people will be in that situation because of the pandemic.

"What is the government going to do to protect those who have already fallen or are about to fall on hard times?

"We urgently need a plan for the banking sector in this country.

"We need a debate on the future of the banking sector.

"How do we protect those customers who are at risk right now and must be feeling anxiety and pressure at home?

"I cannot imagine what it must feel like to sit at home and wonder whether one's mortgage is going to be sold to a vulture fund and what that might mean for one and one's family home."

Mayo Senator Paddy Burke has also expressed his sadness at the closing of Ulster Bank.

"It will be a huge loss as a banking force to the country and, not least, to the 2,800 people working in it and its thousands of customers.

"We have an outstanding branch in Castlebar, the county town of Mayo, and it will be a huge loss to our area."