Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to the committee and thank them for their engaging presentations. They are experts in the field and I commend them on behalf of all of the people who have approached me and whom I have referred to them. I commend the organisations on the professional way in which they responded to those people.

As Deputy Michael McGrath mentioned earlier, this is a prelude to another meeting that the banks will attend. We need a broader scope than the bank targets, but let me start with them. The banks will come in here next week and tell us that they have all met and surpassed their targets. They will then ask us why we are getting hot under the collar about the current system to resolve the mortgage crisis. Today we have heard all three organisations state that even though there is something wrong with the system, the banks are happy because they have received gold stars from the Central Bank and the Minister for Finance. I would like each witness to comment on the existing system of dealing with this issue, one which is acceptable to the Government and the Central Bank.