On behalf of Cork County Federation Muintir na Tire I wish
to strongly condemn the decision by Bank of Ireland to close over 100 branches
across the island of Ireland this September. Bank of Ireland is one of six
Irish-owned financial institutions who received capital injections of €64
billion from the public purse.
Announcing these closures in the middle of a lockdown simply adds further anxiety on the most vulnerable in our society who prefer interacting with a human than using a machine to complete their transactions. Older people who lack the means and ability to access technology, are being bypassed and further isolated. This may also lead to the hoarding of money and some people getting into debt arrears because they cannot make payments.
These closures will also severely affect our county towns and have a detrimental effect on our main streets. It will damage family
businesses and we in Muintir are gravely worried about the impact this will
have on jobs throughout Ireland’s rural economy.
Their attempt to defend this announcement based on a fall in
branch visits over the past twelve months is ridiculous, given that the whole
population has been in lockdown for most of the last year in response to a
public health emergency. It will mean that bank users are effectively
being punished for following public health regulations. The bank is really
using Covid-19 as a shield and punishing loyal customers with this move.
This is totally cynical and self-serving and it will hurt
older rural customers, bank staff and rural communities harshly. Workers are
not just numbers and these closures do not take into account what is happening
in local towns throughout the country where bank staff play an essential role
in our rural economy.
While Post offices and Bank of
Ireland will enter into a working arrangement for customers in rural areas, it
won’t make up for the lost jobs in that sector and it won’t help to reopen
post offices that have been closed.
We are calling on Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe to intervene and stop these devastating closures
Séamus Forde
Chairman
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