Sir, – I recently had occasion to apply to my bank for a letter of guarantee for a modest sum. I have been banking with this bank for over three decades and I assumed it would be a simple enough application.
After six weeks I finally received an approval letter advising me that the bank would give me a letter of guarantee for an annual charge of 2 per cent of the amount, provided they had a lien on an account bearing no interest, for an equivalent amount.
This letter proves to me that Irish banks are lending in theory but not in practice. – Yours, etc,