Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the three delegations and thank them for their opening statements. I will begin with Ms Lavin, who made a very strong opening statement. It was powerful stuff on her experience with Ulster Bank. She made very strong allegations about engineering a default and manipulation. She alleged it lied when it came before the committee in December. In her opinion, where should all of this go now? We are observing what is going on in the UK. Here, the Central Bank does not have any ongoing investigation into Ulster Bank and the treatment of the 2,141 SME customers who ended up in its Global Restructuring Group, GRG, of which fewer than 100 came out intact. Is it the case that all of this will have to be worked through the courts with civil proceedings by all the borrowers? In Ms Lavin's view, should there be a comprehensive Central Bank-led investigation using its statutory powers into this very issue?