Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice for sharing his time with me.

This is a timely Private Members’ motion because it addresses problems that are not going away. The mortgage and housing crises are embedded in society and need to be addressed. The boards of the two main banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, and the third bank, Ulster Bank, are actually remote from the realities of life for the households for which they extended a credit-pyramid bubble for over seven years. It was disgraceful the way in which their boards adopted a policy of balance sheet expansion that brought the size of the domestic banking sector from three to over five times the level of national income. The size of banking system in the United States is only a little over GDP, gross domestic product. What was allowed to happen here as matter of policy was appalling.

Households continue to suffer. As Deputy Joan Collins pointed out, bank call centres are, pathetically, manned by people who are not experienced in looking at the recoverable and realisable amounts of mortgage lending which was part of the credit-pyramid bubble. There should be a bespoke, professional writing-down of balances to recoverable amounts, but this is not happening. I have first-hand experience of professionally advising people in this regard on a pro bonobasis. The resistance by the banks is disgraceful. It was an illusion that someone like Wilbur Ross was coming to support and strengthen half of the banking system in the form of his investment in Bank of Ireland. It was pathetic to allow him to invest €290 million in the bank as he took €500 million in profit out of it. He was not interested in the economy or mortgage loans in the bank.

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