Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I too value and respect the independence of the Central Bank. However, it was also behind the curve on this issue, which is not new. I acknowledge that the Central Bank and Ulster Bank are engaging, whatever that word means in this context. It could mean, for example, that they are engaging on the fees structure, which is at the minor end of what has been alleged about GRG, or that they are asking whether GRG organised strategic defaults to put viable Irish businesses into liquidation, thereby collapsing them, imposing serious hardship on the directors and families concerned and putting many thousands of workers out of work. That is what lies at the heart of the allegations. When the finance committee started to deal with this issue, the Central Bank was not involved in any engagement or taking any action, but the committee pushed it in that direction. We will have a module on the activities of Irish banks on this issue at the start of 2018.

I reiterate the question I asked the Minister. I welcome his engagement last week with victims of the tracker mortgage scandal. Will he also engage or is he open to engaging with victims of GRG - the businesses that were put to the wall as a result of its activities - in order that he will be better informed on the full consequences of the group's actions?

See this speech in context