Mr. Thomas Ryan:

I apologise if I appear nervous. I want to let the committee know that our case is entirely on the public record.

To answer Deputy Pearse Doherty's question about the customer appeals panel, the figures are available and they are extremely stark. From our point of view, it is absolute madness that there is a Permanent TSB staff member on the panel. For that very reason nothing has gone to the independent review panel. It is absolutely appalling and our case was one of them. I will spend a couple of minutes outlining the history of it.

In early 2009 I rang Permanent TSB's helpline to inquire about a rate change for our mortgage, as advertised. This recorded but crucially withheld call led us to a case review, initially at a local level but then down through the bank's internal complaints procedure, on to the Financial Services Ombudsman's office and, ultimately, the High Court. At its core was the refusal of the bank to honour tracker rates, as per the contract. Incredibly, it was found to have deliberately and repeatedly covered up, lied and misled us and the Financial Services Ombudsman's office, even through the High Court process. In doing so it fought tooth and nail, every inch of the way. Its ploy was to force customers onto much more expensive, rip-off rates which left many people with unsustainable and inflated mortgages. Its deceit was uncovered only when the recording was presented in the High Court in 2011. As a result we won the case which was then sent back to the Financial Services Ombudsman's office.

What had happened to us and countless others could have been totally prevented, as Ms Melbourne said, if the bank had shown a shred of honesty and human decency. Even though there has been partial redress since which we acknowledge, my family have suffered enormously owing to the stress caused. I myself suffered a stroke in 2013, with lasting consequences for my life, family and work. My wife, Clare, suffered a nervous breakdown in 2015, which resulted in her losing her ability to speak. She was hospitalised. It was an horrific experience, not only for Clare but also for our children as she went through long periods of nervous stuttering and stammering without uttering an understandable word. These life-changing traumas will be etched on our memories forever. She can no longer attend large gatherings and gets extremely stressed over relatively minor issues. She still goes through regular periods of speech and cognitive impairment when she feels even mildly stressed. As her husband, I find it pitiful and so unjust to see my wife's confident and bubbly nature stripped away. It is so sad to witness this change in front of her loved ones. It causes her and all of us untold anguish. Aside from the trauma inflicted on us as a couple, the extreme effects of stress on the mental well-being of our teenage children are absolutely heartbreaking and can be so upsetting for us. I cannot begin to convey them in words. Our conditions have been medically documented and have been attributed to huge stress, as we were a normal, healthy and private couple prior to all of this happening.

I cannot express the damaging and fundamental change this has had on us and our entire outlook and the confidence of our children. We beg the committee members, as our representatives, to please sort this mess out once and for all with the help of Mr. Kissane. To quote the summation of the judge in our High Court case, customers are entitled to basic fairness and a duty of good faith by their bank. I thank members for listening.