Hi there
I just read all the posts, and am curently on the same situation but a bit ahead on the story...Ive been there.
Heres what I think about it:
You have asked if the bank can close the accounts-yes they can, they will give you 21 days warning and they will then close the accounts whether or not its in debt. This is a good thing on my opinion, you dont want to do business with a bank that is not there for you when you need them.open up another account asap, I personally recommend An Post as they are good to deal with, post office is opened on saturday and they dont have account fees.
-second issue was the pay from a child benefit, I have done it myself during more than 1 year, I realize now that it was a bit mistake - again this is my opinion. Your brother needs to contact MABS ASAP, and I mean it. sit with one of the debt advisors and put all the debts on the table, make a proper financial statement and work from there. He should then make an offer to the bank according to his means, this should be realistic and keep reviewing avery 3 months, once there is some money coming in, he should be ok. They will refer it to their legal team and there will be a lot of nasty letters coming at the door, at some stage i was getting 3 every day...pass them onto mabs and dont get involved, this avoids stress. keep your head up and look for a job, keep your life. once it goes to the legal team, their solicitors can make long term arrangements, so on that sense its actually better if it goes to the solicitors...that where i am now. keep paying every month even if it is 20 euros per month if thats what you can afford and stablish your priorities, mortgage, food, clothing first...those are primary needs.
If is there anything else i can do, pls do not hesitate to contact me, I will happy to help as much as i can.
By the way, from what i heard, AIB is actually easy going in terms of debt, BOI would be way worse.best of luck