John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----but I am going to raise it anyway. In his opening remarks, Mr. Stanley said that in the context of the resolution of these issues that it is essential for customers to build trust with the bank. However, a sample of emails that I received since the last time Mr. Stanley was before us paints a different picture. Ulster Bank customers are telling the bank that its helpline is helpless and that despite communicating with the bank on numerous occasions, they are being told the same thing, namely, that the review is ongoing and that the bank will be in contact with them in due course. Some customers believe that it may be the end of September 2018 before they are contacted. The bank did wrong; customers are trying to work with it but they are not getting the sense that the bank is working with them.

In another example, Ulster Bank compensated a customer at Christmas time in 2017 but immediately went back to accruing charges in the old way in 2018. That case has still not been resolved. In another case, a customer went through a process within the bank whereby the original terms of a contract were changed, in terms of what was being offered now, and the bank refused to budge. My point is that the language that Ulster Bank customers are using to describe the bank paints a picture of an organisation that is dealing with these issues only reluctantly.

Last August this person was notified that they were impacted. The bank had previously told this customer they were not impacted. Since their initial correspondence they have not had a single contact from the bank despite them ringing the bank and trying to make contact with it.

Another person tells us that in July 2017 they were told things would be resolved and the bank would be in contact with them in a few months regarding redress and compensation. Eleven months on and there has still been no update from the bank. They are not an appending cohort to be examined; they have obviously been examined. The list goes on and on.

Another woman has been waiting since 2016. They were told this week that they would not even know if they were impacted until the end of September. If these people write to us and say they are in regular contact with the bank, what is happening that there is no response? Why are they being left for 11 months?