Socialist Party TD Mick Barry said this morning that a bank which is majority State-owned should not be shutting down its ATMs and ending cash services in its branches.
The Oireachtas Finance Committee member said that such a move represented a "kick in the teeth" to many customers and that the Government and its TDs should be put under pressure to intervene to stop it.
His comments come in the wake of Allied Irish Banks' decision to remove all cash, cheque and ATM services from 70 of its 170 branches.
AIB is 63.5% State-owned, and was bailed out by the taxpayer to the tune of €3.5 billion in 2009. Last year it made after tax profits of €645 million.
Socialist Party TD Mick Barry, told RedFM News that a bank which is majority State-owned should not be shutting down its ATMs and ending cash services in its branches:
"AIB received a massive bailout from the taxpayer to whom it should be forever grateful. It's now making huge year on year profits, and the government still have a majority share. Why then, is it turning around and kicking so many of its customers in the teeth? AIB should not be allowed to act like a capitalist corporation with zero social responsibilities, making every decision on the basis of how to maximize profit. The government and TDs need to be put under real pressure to make sure that the state's majority share in this bank accounts for something to use us to act in the interests of ordinary people and to get this disgraceful decision reversed."
