Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

One has to wonder what it is about the banks in Ireland that allows them to behave so disgracefully so often. From Ansbacher to the DIRT inquiry, we saw the banks do serious harm, and then they brought our country to its knees with reckless lending. Now, just a few years later, we have another scandal. While posting billions of euros in profits, they have systematically defrauded tens of thousands of our people. Yesterday, we heard from the Minister for Finance on the scandal. As Miriam Lord wryly noted in a newspaper this morning, "he has demanded two more reports from the Central Bank to join all the other ones and he should be in a position to be very definitive about something one way or another in about six months' time". The Minister refused to outline any potential sanctions that might actually be imposed on the banks. More than two years have passed since the Central Bank began its investigation. Some 20,000 customers have been definitely impacted, and possibly 30,000. We know that 23 families have had their homes repossessed and another 79 were dragged through the courts for repossession of buy-to-let properties. The human toll is not limited to these cases. During some of the toughest years of our economy, people were faced with scandalous overcharging of tens of thousands of euro. The scale of human misery involved is immense, yet the Minister for Finance cannot tell us what sanctions these banks might face.

Several things seem abundantly clear to us. First, under the 2013 Act that we introduced, the Central Bank has the power to direct banks to pay redress. Therefore, it should be doing so now for all post-2013 cases. Second, it must set out a speedy system of external oversight to identify any customer not yet known to have been defrauded. Third, it seems clear to anyone watching that this was cartel-like behaviour, with each of the banks perpetrating the same fraud. It is simply not good enough to be told that the Central Bank is liaising with or had meetings with the Garda. The Tánaiste must tell the House what the Government intends to do to pursue any criminal activity and ensure that it is fully investigated. We have to see some personal accountability. Finally, in this country, individuals - real people - as well as systems and culture must be held to account. It will not be good enough to reach the end of this latest banking scandal and say that everyone has received compensation so business should return to normal. The people have endured too much for this case to close in that manner.

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