Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In 2014, almost 14,000 people were brought before the courts for not paying their TV licence fees. In the previous year, 411 of those people were sent to prison for not paying their TV licence fees. A constituent of mine, a single mother, had the Garda call to her door and she was brought to Mountjoy Prison during this period for not having a TV licence. In the same year, the Davy 16 got together and formed a consortium for the sole purpose of swindling that company's client out of money. They were breaking the rules and regulations and not one of them has been held to account. In the same period, more than 40,000 people were essentially robbed by banks as a result of the tracker mortgage scandal. More than 100 of these individuals lost their family homes as a result. During the period in question, the Central Bank called time and again for the Government to provide it with additional powers to hold senior executives in the areas of finance, insurance and brokerage to account. Time and again, however, the Government has refused to bring forward legislation in this regard. There have been promises after promises but we still do not have legislation. When will the Government finally publish the legislation for which the Central Bank has been begging for more than three years?

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