Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

A number of committee members have already referenced the length of time that this investigation took. It took seven years from when the original action took place and five years since the High Court case. We know that the staff count within the Central Bank has almost doubled over the past ten years. Is it the case that within the enforcement section, all energies were devoted to the tracker mortgage scandal and investigation over the past number of years, and the Central Bank was almost overwhelmed by that and unable to take on additional investigations such as this important one? There is real alarm at the length of this investigation and concern over what other breaches may have taken place during the period of time it took before the Central Bank issued its report and announced the fine last week. I would like our guests to comment on the average length of time that investigations take and, indeed, whether the enforcement section has been overwhelmed by the tracker mortgage scandal.