Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The pathetic, meaningless and mealy-mouthed apologies from bankers over the tracker mortgage scandal are prompting nothing but fury and frustration among the victims of that scandal and the wider public. The Tánaiste has said that pending reports, the Minister for Finance will look into the possibility of legislation in this area if it is needed. What people out there want to know is whether as a matter of urgency, the Government is going to look into whether legislation is there to ensure that if a fraud or theft was committed by the bankers, they will go to prison. The reason people are asking that question and the reason the Minister needs to answer it is because to date, bankers guilty of fraud and theft have not gone to prison. I point out for his information that even though by any definition what the bankers have done in the tracker mortgage scandal accords with the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act's definition of fraud, it is then neutralised by provisions in the Central Bank Act that essentially allow the regulator to impose administrative sanctions and for no criminal prosecution to take place.

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