Lack of Banking Competition means Banking Duopoly Can What Ever They Like

Lack of Banking Competition means Banking Duopoly Can What Ever They Like – Tóibín

Aontú Leader and Member of the Oireachtas Finance Committee Peadar Tóibín TD stated;

“The fruits of the dysfunction within the Irish Banking Marketing are coming home to roost. For over a decade now FG has engineered a banking market with two pillar banks. These two pillar banks wield enormous supplier power meaning they control every aspect of customers engagements. Customers have to accept any decisions these banks make because they have nowhere else to go. This despite both Pillar Banks being very profitable and paying no tax. This is getting worse due the exit of Ulster Bank from the Irish market”.

“Market dysfunction is not unusual in Ireland. The Housing sector, the Beef sector the Insurance sectors are all examples of how Government economic incompetency is damaging enterprise and the fabric of Irish society”.

“The decision to close 103 banks across Ireland, 88 in the south and 15 in the north is a hammer blow for staff, customers and small businesses. It is also a disaster for rural and regional Ireland that has previously seen banks and Post Office close. The government has to decided one and for all. Does it want to turn regional Ireland into a commuter belt for Dublin or will they secure an economic energy in the regions of Ireland”.

“I have formally requested that the Minister for Finance and the Sec Gen of that department come before the Oireachtas Committee to spell out to inject competition into the dysfunctional Irish Banking market. This needs to happen as a matter of urgency”

The Irish political system is radically broken

In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder one point one billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.

Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.

Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.