Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

We are not talking about mortgage distress, as such. We are talking about illegality on the part of the banks leading to mortgage distress and, in many cases, to the repossession of family homes and borrowers losing their properties. We learned from the banking inquiry that the culture permeating the banks was also endemic in the Central Bank and the Department of Finance. There is no guarantee that existing regulations will be implemented by any branch of the financial elites. The Government's task is to prevent fraud and, when fraud takes place, to prosecute those responsible. It is possible that the delay in ordering a Garda fraud investigation into this matter has already led to the destruction or alteration of relevant records with a view to blaming subordinates. Will the Taoiseach order an immediate criminal investigation to prevent any further cover-ups in this regard? Will he sack the highly paid public interest directors and Government nominees on the boards of these banks who failed to bring this matter to the attention of the Legislature?

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