Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I again add my voice to the call for a debate not just on the banking sector but on the issue of mortgage arrears, a debate I have called for on number of occasions. As shareholders in AIB, most of us are probably delighted it had a €1.1 billion pre-tax profits in 2014 as opposed to a €1.7 billion loss in 2013. However, a closer examination of the figures reveals that €188 million is a write-back from amounts it had previously set aside for expected bad debts. That basically means that the rest of the money is operating profits. I very much share the concerns of Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell that these profits are being made by exorbitant bank charges, interest rates on variable rate loans that are unsustainable and unacceptable, and, dare I say, a certain amount of a fall in the level of arrears that has been brought about by nothing but pure terror being imposed on people who are in mortgage arrears.