Lorraine Higgins (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the serious issue of the lack of change in the culture of banking in this country. I am sure many of us in this room watched last night's "Prime Time" debate. It featured a young couple who were forced to sell their family home for €60,000 having been left with an unsustainable debt of €190,000 and they were made bankrupt which is most regrettable. I acknowledge that people have a duty to pay their debts and that banks have a right to recourse for any of their loans. However, the extremities of the couple's situation raised more questions than answers. It is not the only example of shoddy practice by Ulster Bank against its Irish customers. In the past the bank had IT glitches that were caused by its outsourcing of IT positions to India.

In the past number of weeks I have become aware of another issue that conveys fully the depravity of the banks when it came to lending during the Celtic tiger era. It acts as an example of the way they induced people to take out investments. One such issue that was brought to my attention related to a man who was forced into taking out a financial product. He was a long time customer of the bank but he was put under excruciating duress to invest in a property that was owned by Ulster Bank's parent group in England - RBS - a fact that was not disclosed to him. He resisted the investment in the strongest possible terms and did not give his consent. However, the bank told him that he was lucky to be included in the offer and that he would regret not proceeding with the investment. There was also further misrepresentation on the loan to value ratio. That shows Ulster Bank was funding its asset sale and explains why it engaged in such predatory practices. Essentially, it helped the English arm of its bank at a cost to Irish customers. It is not only me who had a problem with the practice. The Financial Regulator found that there were serious flaws and failures in the bank's sales practices. Not only did Ulster Bank fail to satisfy its regulatory requirements, pursuant to the consumer protection code of 2006, it failed in its overall duties to its clients.

I have given an example of how people suffered due to the practices of banks in this country. It is time for banks to put their hands up and stop prolonging the pain for people. I ask the Minister for Finance to come in here to discuss what sanctions can be imposed against the banks who have behaved appallingly. Concealing the information that I outlined while putting people under duress to buy property is a serious matter which needs to be addressed.