Business groups unhappy at report

Reaction: Business groups and opposition parties have criticised the Competition Authority, accusing it of telling them what they and consumers already know.

The Small Firms Association (SFA) said the report, which found that banking was not competitive for either personal or business customers, raised the question of how much authority the Competition Authority had.

"Small businesses have been waiting 13 months to be told what they already know. Why are we always one report away from action?" the SFA director, Mr Pat Delaney, asked.

The sentiment was echoed by the Fine Gael spokesman for finance, Mr Richard Bruton, who said the publication was the latest in a stream of reports that had yet to deliver concrete action.

Mr Bruton was wary of the recommendation that regulation of bank charges should be abolished. "The danger is consumers will be bamboozled by elaborate new charge structures," he said.

The Labour Party finance spokeswoman, Ms Joan Burton, also said she did not support the abolition of the regulation of bank charges. "We would need to see clear evidence of greater competition in practice before such a step could be considered."

Ms Burton said the report confirmed what bank customers have known for years.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises association (ISME) said the report lacked "cutting edge" and was a lost opportunity to introduce meaningful reform.

However, the Irish Bankers' Federation (IBF) welcomed the report's publication and said it was satisfied that progress could be and was being made in regard to its recommendations.

The IBF's code of practice on account switching for personal customers is due to come into effect in February and the IBF said it would extend the code to small businesses, one of the report's recommendations.

Permanent TSB said there was no doubt that the absence of a streamlined process for switching current accounts had made it more difficult for smaller banks to compete.