Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will not rehash old territory. The position has been made very clear in terms of the bank's attitude towards writing down debt and the priorities for the bank with regard to repaying the taxpayers' loan, along with the interests of shareholders, etc. I will focus on some aspects of the procedures as they relate to customers. I will begin by making a quick comment. In a previous career I was a practising solicitor and involved in drawing down mortgages, as were most solicitors. This involved ordinary people. In every case in which I acted for a client, I never achieved a single change to the standard form deed of mortgage. In every case the valuation on the property being bought was paid for by the purchaser, and the securing the bank's mortgage over the property was paid for by the customer who paid the legal firm to act on the bank's behalf to register the mortgage. I wish to discuss the bank's duty to customers, as the bottom line for many people dealing with the bank who are in distressed positions is that they had no real hand, act or part in establishing the legal relationship they have with the bank.

Another Deputy has put this succinctly in that we seem to be squeezing the pips from the lemon when dealing with customers, so any ounce that can be taken will be taken. Unfortunately, on a daily basis I deal with vulnerable people who find themselves in mortgage distress, and I will focus on some of the issues that have come to my attention and that of other organisations which have come before the committee in the past week. The first relates to the type of assistance that customers get when dealing with Bank of Ireland. The Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, was before the committee and made it clear that it was not in a position to give the high level legal and accounting advice required by people who find themselves in mortgage distress.

The witnesses may answer that the bank has repaid the taxpayer €6 billion and it is therefore down to the State to provide expert advice to people in mortgage distress. Given that these are Bank of Ireland customers and in looking to level the playing field for them in their engagement with the bank, does Mr. Boucher not think it reasonable to do what AIB or EBS have done in appointing the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation on an independent basis, funding it in assisting the bank's customers in dealing with the bank? Alternatively, how would he feel about a bank levy to set up a national, independent and expert service to act at arm's length between a bank and its customers?