Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an rún seo atá os comhair an Tí. Tréaslaím leis an Teachta Ó Dochartaigh as ucht é a thabhairt os ár gcomhair. The purposed of the motion is to ensure the Government recognises a wrong has been inflicted on blameless citizens. Few will disagree with this. It must not only recognise that, it must rectify the wrong. As the previous speakers said, it appears that 15,000 customers, perhaps many more, have been affected by practices that were found to be improper and wrong by the Financial Services Ombudsman. Among the 15,000 customers affected, there are many families all over Ireland. There is a very high number of people in mortgage distress in my constituency in Cork. These families were kept on variable rate mortgages when they were entitled to extend or move on to a tracker rate. They were robbed of the opportunity to benefit from the tracker mortgages with quite significant amounts missed out on. They were deliberately denied lower rates. I speak for many who acknowledge that these sums would have been better in the pockets of families rather than bankers who, for far too long, have been unaccountable when it comes to questionable practices.

The banks have admitted that people have lost their homes as a result of decisions they made on this issue - 14 on the part of AIB, 15 in the case of Ulster Bank and 22 with Permanent TSB. That is a complete and utter scandal. Behind each of these numbers, there is likely a family who broke their hearts trying to hold on to their home. The fact that families have faced repossessions and countless others have lost their homes as a result of these practices, having decided on a voluntary sale after significant stress and hardship when they might have been able to sustain the mortgages in other circumstances, is more evidence that light-touch regulation has failed us. They are deserving of compensation in a timely fashion. I reiterate the calls for strict deadlines to be imposed for the redress and compensation to be paid. Compensation is not adequate. It cannot compensate for the upset, hardship and stress involved. We can only speculate about how many people went without a visit to their doctor or dentist or left bills unpaid or how many children were deprived of other necessities, educational opportunities or the chance to better themselves because their parents could not afford it as a result of the rate they were denied.

There is no question but that these practices have a real human cost and a wider social cost. This will be always framed as an error or oversight by some. The Irish banks seem to have actively worked to deprive people of their rights and entitlements.

If that is the case, it makes it a crime. Therefore, while compensation may not be adequate, it is the very least that can be done for these families and individuals.

There is also the issue of justice as regards those who were at fault. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a difference in attitude among officialdom in Ireland to white collar crime as opposed to other kinds of crime. Níl dearcadh chomh dáiríre ann i dtaobh an saghas coiriúlachta seo, agus is coiriúlacht atá ann. The cost inflicted here shows it is not a victimless crime. The motion calls on the Central Bank, 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 do not think it is unfair to state the reaction of the Central Bank has, at the very least, been relaxed in dealing with the issue at hand. It has been slow to administer any sort of deterrent that might prevent similar scandals arising again. Arís tá faillí ar an mBanc Ceannais i dtaobh cosaint a dhéanamh ar ghnáthsaoránaigh. White collar crime legislation in Ireland remains as inadequate as when Matthew Elderfield said back in 2013 that the legislation on the Irish Statute Book was inadequate. The State must step up to the mark in protecting the victims and ensuring justice in this area also. That means stepping up in terms of legislation but it also means stepping up in terms of resources. The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau - formerly, the fraud squad - including all the units thereof, need to be better resourced. People are tired of seeing those involved in white collar crime, whether in banks or other forms of finance, get away with it. It is still one of the festering sores of the economic crisis and something that, at every door in the country, frustrates people beyond fury to this day. We need to ensure this does not happen again and this must be done by way of legislation, by way of resources and by way of a change in culture and attitude. That can begin through compensation and through ensuring those responsible for these actions are brought to account.

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