Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will echo some of the comments Deputy Michael McGrath has made. Let us put this into context. We use all these words about redress and examination and all the rest. The banks, some of which are State-owned and in some of which the State is the majority shareholder, are holding on to customers' moneys unlawfully. There are 10,000 that we know of and there may be many more thousands on top of that figure. The quantum of money the banks are holding unlawfully at this point, which they have taken from their customers, is in the region of €300 million.

Finally, the Government seems to have woken up and the Minister has brought the banks in to give them a dressing down. Nine months ago, I was challenging the Minister to do just that. What we need now is clarity. Is there going to be individual accountability? This Dáil spoke with one voice in January of this year, when Sinn Féin used its Private Members' time to propose that the Government put forward any such legislation identified as being necessary as a result of the examination to ensure that individuals and financial institutions can be held accountable for any white-collar crime that may have occurred. Has the Government carried out any examination?

Can the Minister give a guarantee to those who are watching out there, the victims of the tracker mortgage scandal, that they will receive their money back into their accounts before the end of this year and that they will receive adequate compensation?

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