Mr. Padraic Kissane:

I would say that it would be between 5% and 10% because the natural economics of the statistics suggest that is the case. There is an issue here that has been forgotten. When people set out to purchase a home they know that they have to pay their debts. That is the tragedy here because people would have done everything they could to prioritise the retention of their homes. That point is missed in this whole debacle. People sold their cars, they got loans from credit unions and did everything they could to pay their mortgages. In terms of the appeals that I am currently bringing to PTSB, for example, I have referred to the isolation and social exclusion that occurred.

It is an aspect of the results of the banks' actions that is not appreciated. I had an example of a case of a religious family, not a Catholic family. It is enshrined in their ethos that they have to pay back money borrowed. In their case, the interest rate was increased wrongly and, because they missed their payments, they were ostracised within their religious community. Recently, I got a man to send me photographs of his unfinished home to highlight the cause and effects of his bank's actions. He did not want to send them to me initially. The reason I needed them was to show the lack of any work done on the house for nine years. The point I was making was the impression this community had of that family and the children in it. It was still a builder's finish nine years later because the family did not have a penny to wallpaper or put curtains up, paint the house or put down a driveway. The community's impression of that family, which does not realise the bank is overcharging them over €1,000 a month, is there forevermore. That is the point I was making, again, which was dismissed by the customer appeals panel. It was not even regarded as important.