The Minister has outlined his disgust at what KBC Bank Ireland has done in robbing and stealing from its customers. Tens of thousands of business owners, including musicians, contractors, taxi drivers and bus operators, are waiting anxiously to see if the banks will extend the repayment moratorium, which will run out in a couple of days. The Minister told a Deputy earlier that the Minister for Finance would be meeting with representatives of the banks next Tuesday. Why put people through this misery during the Covid-19 pandemic? The banks must be dragged kicking and screaming all the time to act instead of being up front with and half decent to their customers and giving them peace of mind. These customers are hanging on by their fingernails trying to provide for their families and their employees. It is shocking. The banks in this country act like it is the Wild West. They do not respect any business or any customer's length of time doing business with them. Surely the Government can decide that the banks must offer a moratorium and deal with people sensitively during this time of need.

My understanding is that the Minister for Finance is meeting representatives of the banks on Monday. The timelines here are set by the European Banking Authority rather than by anything the Government has done. As I said earlier during Leaders' Questions, this was not a statement that there could not be further payment breaks. I encourage the banks and the customers to come together to decide on the appropriate mechanisms to get customers who are in difficulty through this crisis, including the extension or continuation of payment breaks. Those who are in difficulty and feel they will need them should act now, before 30 September, to try to secure the best arrangements for them. This has to be done on a case-by-case basis. That advice and message should go out to any constituents who are in that position.