1 Introduction
1. The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee announced
its inquiry into The Banking Structure in Northern Ireland
on 15 July 2013, stating that the Committee would be looking in
particular at:
i) the
structure and governance of banks in Northern Ireland;
ii) the possible
breakup of RBS/Ulster Bank;
iii) the position
of the staff of the former Irish Bank Resolution Corporation;
iv) access
to finance, particularly for Small and Medium sized Enterprises;
v) effectiveness
of national initiatives to help aid economic recovery;
vi) availability
of detailed regional lending data; and
vii) access
to banking in rural communities
2. In order to ensure the subject was addressed fully,
the Committee took evidence from a wide group of witnesses, including
all the major players in the Northern Ireland banking sector,
including HM Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, the four
main Northern Ireland banks, and representatives of consumers,
business and bank employees. We heard oral evidence from 17 sets
of witnesses, either at Westminster or at Parliament Buildings,
Stormont.[1]
3. We are grateful to all those who gave oral evidence
and provided informal briefings, to those who submitted written
evidence, to the then Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly,
William Hay MLA,[2] for
allowing us to hold our evidence session at Stormont, and for
the Assembly staff who facilitated our meeting there. We are also
grateful to Tom Reid, a former Director of Ulster Bank, who acted
as our specialist adviser for the inquiry.
1 See pp. 39-40 for a list of those who gave public
evidence Back
2
Now Lord Hay of Ballyore Back
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