Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:notes that:

- the wrongful removal of tracker mortgage rates from mortgage holders, or a failure to restore mortgage holders to tracker mortgage rates they were entitled to, has affected thousands of families;

- the damage caused by the action of the banks involved goes far beyond a purely financial effect and that the effects it has had on the health and social well-being of families, along with the accompanying social exclusion, must also be considered;

- the confirmed cases number at least 11,700 and that many more are still likely to emerge with the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland stating that up to 15,000 is a reasonable estimate;

- the unique economic circumstances prevailing at the time this wrong doing was ongoing resulted in a more pronounced effect and impact on families affected throughout Ireland;

- the occurrence of this behaviour across the banking system suggests a co-ordinated and deliberate attempt by Irish banks to deprive thousands of families of their rights;

- the banks have admitted that dozens of families have lost their home as a result, with AIB admitting to 14 cases, Ulster Bank to 15 cases, Permanent TSB to 22 cases and other banks not yet disclosing the number;

- there are also the homes which were surrendered and were a voluntary or agreed sale, the numbers of which are not yet captured but should also be considered a loss of home;

- in October 2015 the Central Bank of Ireland finally launched an industry wide examination into this practice, years after evidence of its existence emerged; and

- former Central Bank of Ireland head of financial regulation, Matthew Elderfield, told the Committee of Public Accounts, in 2013, that he did not believe the current legislation on the Irish Statute Book was strong enough to bring people to account for white collar crime;

commends the families and advisers who have campaigned to bring this scandal to light and pledges its support to all those affected;

condemns the widespread and scandalous abuse of mortgage holders’ rights carried out by multiple banks in which tracker mortgages and the applicable rates were denied to those who were entitled to them;

supports a comprehensive redress scheme that truly works for the customers affected, with a full right to access to tracker mortgages at the rate agreed as per the contract or at the rate applicable at the time the contract was entered into and compensation taking into account the financial and social impact of the bank’s behaviour;

questions the delay in the Central Bank of Ireland's actions in carrying out an industry-wide examination and expresses concerns that no deadline is in place for the banks to conclude their investigations and to put in place a redress and compensation scheme;

calls for the Central Bank of Ireland investigation to uncover the grounds under which each lender decided or chose to carry out this level of wrongdoing;

believes that a major overhaul of existing law is required to ensure that individuals can be held responsible before the law for their actions in financial matters;

calls on the Government to bring forward legislation to ensure that individuals in financial institutions can be held accountable for white collar crime; and

calls on the Central Bank of Ireland, An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to co-operate, with a view to establishing if individuals, as well as corporate entities, can be held accountable for their part in this scandal.

It is my honour to move this motion which states clearly and loudly that the Dáil stands with the victims of the tracker mortgage scandal and that we want to see the banks sort out the mess they created. Moreover and just as important, we want to see accountability. We want to see those who oversaw this theft and the stealing of millions of euro from up to 15,000 Irish families held accountable. That is the message I want to send loudly and clearly and I hope all Members can support that call. It also includes recognition of the achievement of those mortgage holders who stood up to the banks and won round one. Some have shared personal details of the impact of this scandal on their lives in an honest way which we must appreciate and applaud. I also recognise and pay tribute to the work of Padraic Kissane and others in advising victims and raising this issue.

I am not going to pretend that this scandal had anything to do with system errors or misapplications. I am sure it was deliberate and calculated. Some customers were telling their banks for years that they should have been entitled to a tracker mortgage, but a deaf ear was turned. Thousands of families have been stripped of their rights and suffered hardship because of a decision taken by men in suits acting in the wrong.

We will hear many figures in this debate, rightly so. However, we cannot lose sight of the social impact of what has occurred. I have been inundated by victims of the scandal who have been telling their story and seeking political and practical support for some time, especially this week. What stands out for me is the level of anger at what has happened, not because of figures on a page but because the banks, in doing what they did, have caused stress, emigration, the loss of family homes and other assets, as well as other very personal damage. How can a bank compensate the family that could not afford to send their child to college? How does one account for the terrible cost of that decision? How does a bank compensate the family, the father of which had to emigrate to ensure they would be able to afford the home on which they were being overcharged? What about the 100 or so families who lost their homes simply because the banks were making them pay more than they should have been? How many losses of the family home about which we will never know because they were disguised as so-called voluntary surrenders?

We must bear in mind that much of this theft happened at the worst of times. The economy had collapsed, in large part due to the activities of these very same banks. Unemployment and emigration were at extremely high levels. It was at this time of extreme difficulty for almost all families that the banks decided to twist the knife in for so many. We also know that they did not suddenly have a conscience. This swindle was in full swing until recently. Every month they were taking from families and they would have carried on were it not for mortgage holders standing up to them. The potential scale of the theft would be close to €1 billion now if they had not been caught out and I have no doubt that they would still be at it. I am aware of staff at Bank of Ireland who seem to be completely excluded from the redress scheme. Where is their redress and the justice for them?

For many, it is still going on. The banks are still trying to minimise what they did and weasel out of their responsibilities. The chief executive officer of Ulster Bank told me in December when he appeared before the Oireachtas finance committee that the majority of victims would receive letters before Christmas. From what I hear, that was simply an expedient comment with no basis in fact. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of families who each month receive an identical letter from their bank telling them that they are under review. Families who know that they are in the right have to wait until the bank that stole from them admits to the fact. In the meantime, they are still being overcharged.

Others have received letters stating the bank has returned or will return them to a tracker rate. Any old mortgage called a tracker rate mortgage is not what they signed up to; it was at a particular rate at a particular time. At this point the banks should not be allowed to define what a tracker mortgage is. Some victims have been on a tracker mortgage at Permanent TSB, for example, at a rate of 3.25%, plus the European Central Bank, ECB, rate, when, by all logic, they are entitled to a rate of 0.75%, plus the ECB rate. There is a difference of 2.5%. The Central Bank needs to ensure customers will be returned to the tracker rate to which they are entitled, not the tracker rate the bank would like to them to be at. The banks must fix the mess they created, stop the weaselling, return the money they stole and put things right. That means putting people back on the right rate, not any old rate and calling it a tracker mortgage.

At its core, this scandal is about the banking system. Why did this happen? When the Governor of the Central Bank, Mr. Philip Lane, appeared before the finance committee, he stated what was blindingly obvious, “Put frankly, there are far too many cases where it turns out there was a misapplication.” That is Central Bank speak for the banks knew well what they were doing, but that is not to let the regulator and political overseers off the hook in the slightest. There has been a massive blind eye turned to this scandal at a political level. We know that two of the biggest offenders, AIB and Permanent TSB, are owned by the Minister on behalf of the people. The Minister has not called in their chief executive officers or boards to tell them that this is unacceptable. If a semi-State body was found to have taken hundreds of millions of euro out of people’s pockets through overcharging, its chief executive offer would be sacked. When the banks do it, however, there is an examination and a redress scheme, which is essentially a euphemism for getting back what already belonged to someone.

AIB stated that, at the last count, 3,003 overcharged accounts had been identified. It is a 99.9% State-owned company which has been overcharging thousands of its customers - citizens - to the tune of over €100 million euro.

The Minister should have called in the CEOs and the board of these State-owned banks and asked the questions about what was going on under their noses. I still appeal to him, at this late stage, to do just that. He should be on the tlephone to the banks first thing in the morning seeking answers on behalf of the 15,000 citizens who were swindled by those same banks.

The question also needs to be asked why it took until October 2015 for the Central Bank to launch an industry-wide examination. Thanks to mortgage holders taking cases with the Financial Services Ombudsman, this scandal had already been uncovered many years before. Once again, when it comes to regulatory scandals, it seems the Central Bank is way behind the curve. Even now there is no deadline imposed by the Central Bank to sort out this mess. Let us be very clear about this, the blame does not lie with the Minister or the Central Bank for this crisis. They should have done more but it was the banks across the board that put this practice into place. They are the ones responsible. The motion before us calls on the Central Bank of Ireland, An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to co-operate, with a view to establishing if individuals as well as corporate entities can be held accountable for their part in this scandal. I will support any victim or any representative that goes to their local Garda station and reports what I believe is this crime. I urge people who feel they have been robbed to do exactly that. It is their right in the same way it is when a person is mugged walking down the street - theft is theft.

The bigger picture here is that our white collar crime laws are clearly not deterring white collar criminals. We need to make our laws on corruption and stealing with a pen tougher. Yesterday a white collar criminal was sent to jail but he is the exception that proves the rule. If one positive can come out of this scandal it should be that the House gets serious about giving the Judiciary, the Garda and the Director of Corporate Enforcement the tools to tackle white collar crime.

I hope all sides of the House can support the motion. Up to 15,000 families deserve our support. They have done absolutely nothing wrong but have suffered at the hands of the banks. This is a scandal that has cost a section of the Irish people hundreds of millions of euro. It has unfortunately had a devastating impact on those families beyond the financial impact. We owe it to those families to stand with them tonight and send a message to the banks that we will accept nothing short of full redress and fair compensation.

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