John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing Deputy Mattie McGrath and me to raise this issue. Last weekend, a situation arose whereby Friends First Finance, based in Dublin, sent boot boys down to a farmer in north County Wexford to repossess a tractor. These guys were armed with anything they could have in their van. On their arrival, the farmer resisted the actions to take the tractor and as a result, both he and his son were attacked with jackboot tactics. They were battered, received belts on their arms, legs and bodies and were in severe pain.

The point Deputy McGrath and I wish to raise tonight is that banks should not be allowed to operate in this manner. They have a code of conduct laid down by the Central Bank, which requires firms to have in place procedures for the handling of arrears cases to give the borrower a reasonable time in which to solve the arrears problem and to endeavour to agree an approach to assist the borrower to solve the arrears problem. The section was revised recently and now contains more detailed requirements and the revised requirements have been effective since 1 January 2012. In some instances, a person who is dissatisfied with his or her treatment by a hire purchase company can make a complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman.

Obviously, however, both in this case and many other cases nationwide, banks now are taking the law into their own hands. They are operating in the dead of night and the people to whom I referred earlier arrived in the early morning when it was dark and tried to take the tractor from the local farmer. Of course the farmer, his son, the family and their neighbours resisted the attempt and there certainly was no talking to the people who arrived. They attacked the farmer straight away and attacked his son. They created mayhem in that part of north County Wexford.

During the week, a number of meetings took place between Friends First and the local action committee, at which Deputy Mattie McGrath was present at different times. An agreement was reached with the managing director of Friends First that no further action would be taken until such time as the Garda completes its investigations. However, it is important that such banks operate within the law and under the code of conduct as laid down by the Central Bank, but they certainly are not doing this at present.

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