Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My time is short so I will ask one last question and make a short comment on staff morale. I know the Financial Services Union published its survey. It is shocking that 80% of people are affected in different ways. I echo the comment that while these are private banks, the State has a shareholding in many of them, which comes with responsibility. If staff feel this type of burnout or pressure, there need to be interventions at a senior level to make sure that, where we have shareholdings, people are respected and there is dignity at work.

I have lost my train of thought. I was concerned about the staff issue and morale. We talked about KBC and Ulster Bank staff being made redundant. Permanent TSB fought tooth and nail against an individual constituent of mine who took a case to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, FSPO. It fought that case for many years, including for three years after the tracker mortgage examination was concluded by the Central Bank a decade since it began. Permanent TSB has acknowledged that up to 200 other customers will be contacted and where matters have to be made good. Some of these people lost their homes. It is a terrible situation.

It is my view that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other people who will find themselves affected by the tracker mortgage examination as more cases go through the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman and the courts. We heard from the FSPO in Tullamore that hardly a week goes by where cases related to this do not come before her. What happens when these apply to Ulster Bank and KBC? What level of staff will remain in these banks a year or two after they have officially packed their bags and got out of town? We know there has to be a regulatory presence here for many years. What discussions have the witnesses had with those institutions about the core number of staff who will be able to make sure that these issues can be dealt with?