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

The Minister and his officials are very welcome to this meeting. At the end of last September, 13,000 customers were identified as being affected as part of this examination, bearing in mind that this was almost two years on from the announcement by the Central Bank of this examination. In the following period of fewer than three months prior to the end of December, that number had more than doubled from 13,000 to 26,600. An extra 13,600 were identified on top of the 13,000 in the first two years of the examination. Therefore, something changed within a very short period. The Central Bank has not minced its words and it is to its credit that it has engaged in straight talking, of late at least, on this issue. The evidence from the Central Bank indicates that the banks have had to be dragged kicking and screaming to identify the right customers to whom to provide redress and compensation. In the Minister's view, what led to such an about-turn and such a dramatic increase in the number of customers identified? Some 13,000 were identified in two years and in the following period of less than three months, another 13,600 were identified.