FSU meet with Sean Fleming TD. Minister of State at the Department of Finance

Press Statement from the Financial Services Union

FSU meet with Sean Fleming TD. Minister of State at the Department of Finance

Government needs to act on Banking Forum.

Banking infrastructure will be ripped apart if we do not say stop says FSU.

The establishment of a Banking Forum, proposed Bank of Ireland branch closures and Ulster Bank formed the main part of a meeting held today between the Financial Services Union and Sean Fleming TD, Minister of State at the Department of Finance.

The meeting was described as constructive and professional by FSU General Secretary, John O’Connell.

Commenting after the meeting John O’Connell said:

I welcome the opportunity to meet today with the Minister. It was a constructive meeting where ideas were discussed, and I hope progress was made on key issues.

“The last few months have seen the announcement of the wind down of Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland announcing the closure of 88 branches, AIB and BOI announcing thousands of redundancies and ATM’s being sold off to the highest bidder. Unless we say stop the Banking infrastructure of this Country will be ripped apart, vulnerable people will have no access to their local Bank and access to cash will be minimal.

The Central Bank are on the record saying they expect a bank to conduct an impact assessment on the local community before they close any branches. This was not done by BOI and we emphasised the FSU view that branch closures should stop until a full debate happens on the future of Banking.

There is widespread support for this position. The Governor of the Central Bank has written to us to say he will take part in a structured debate and all the main Banks, and the Irish Banking Culture Board are on the record saying a debate is needed. The Government need to act on this now and ensure a customer centric approach is taken to Banking in Ireland.”

ENDS

Contact: Brian McDowell, Head of Communications and Public Affairs, FSU. Tel: 087-9161225. Email: brian.mcdowell@fsunion.org.

Note to Editor: John O’Connell is available for interview.

About FSU: The FSU is Ireland’s leading union across banking and finance. We represent thousands of staff across the main retail banks, and we have members in more than 70 companies across the finance and fintech sectors. Our members are spread across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain. We are headquartered in Dublin and we also have a presence in Belfast. We are members of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and UNI Global finance union.