Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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In response to a parliamentary question I tabled recently, I was told that the amount in mortgage interest supplement that has been paid out by the State since 2008 is just under €313 million. This means that every bank, whether or not the State bailed it out, has been assisting its customers in one fashion or another. This brings me to the point that some 30% of distressed borrowers with Ulster Bank are now engaged in legal proceedings where it seems a repossession is taking place. That is quite a large portion. The committee was not happy, during the course of the last set of hearings, that legal letters which had been sent out by the banks to customers were being counted as resolution processes. These were the initial letters that went out; it would seem those cases have since progressed to a more formal position, with solicitors appointed, affidavits issued and so forth. How is it that 30% of Ulster Bank's customers are finding themselves before the courts?