Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is unfair to the staff of the banks, who are distressed. There is no communication because people are frightened. Luckily I only have a current account with Bank of Ireland. When I ring that bank's branch in Stillorgan my call is diverted to a call centre in Limerick. It is mad. The banks paid millions of euro to management consultants to tell them how to run their businesses but they cannot even communicate internally. The people in Limerick do not know whether I am 22 or 62 years old. They just hear a voice even though I have been a customer of Bank of Ireland for 45 years. Why should people engage? They are getting letters but do not know who is writing them. When they contact their banks they are transferred to a call centre or an automated menu. There is music while they are on hold. It is mad.

A mortgage is a loan secured on an asset. If all things are equal in terms of multiples of earnings, the guidelines on prudential borrowing are observed and loan-to-deposit ratios are maintained at 90% over time, a credit bubble mathematically cannot happen. The boards, in all their stupidity, allowed it to happen and, boy, they let it rip. They compounded the problem by offering tracker mortgages, which are loss makers. These are the people who are now supposed to vet people getting back on their feet. It is unbelievable.