Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Permanent TSB went to the steps of the Supreme Court in this land to deny customers their contractual rights. How can an ordinary family deal with that situation? It is simply not fair. What we are dealing with here is a scandal. We need more than sympathy from Government. The individuals and families affected on a day-to-day basis by this issue need action to help them to deal with it.

What we are suggesting is that there is a need for stronger legislation to sanction the banks where clear breaches of the consumer protection code are taking place. It is evident that the sanctions that have been applied have not worked. When something does not work, then the Government has to step it up a level. That is clearly what needs to be done.

I welcome the examination that the Central Bank is doing of the broader issue of how customers on tracker mortgages have been dealt with. However, even if those involved find serious and fundamental problems with how banks have dealt with customers on tracker mortgages and in respect of their rights, I do not have confidence that the Central Bank has the capacity to deal with that. The evidence, unfortunately, is to the contrary. The Government needs to ensure that where there are cases in the system of banks seeking to repossess properties or disputes about the contractual rights of customers to a certain interest rate, then those cases should be halted immediately. The Government also needs to deal with the necessary reform of the Financial Services Ombudsman. There is a six-year rule at present, as the Tánaiste is aware, such that complaints can only be taken in respect of a matter that originated within the past six years. For many customers, that door is closing, if it has not already closed.

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