Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to talk about the tracker mortgage scandal and I commend Deputy Pearse Doherty and other Sinn Féin Deputies on moving a motion calling for a full and urgent redress scheme for the 15,000 victims affected by the theft of their money by these banks. We need an overhaul of white collar crime so that the bankers responsible are held to account. In addition, an unspeakable wrong has been done to the individuals and families who lost their homes and those who endured the stress of being hounded by reckless and unsupervised bankers who are fully aware that they were demanding money under false pretences. During our questioning of these banks at the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, the banks told us they made a mistake so they all made the same mistake at the same time. The evidence points to a deliberate and calculated plan to implement this practice across the board. The scale of the theft can be seen in the fact that AIB and permanent tsb have made provision for €190 million and €145 million to refund people who were overcharged. One can only imagine the impact on the people affected by this amount of money being taken from them - all the things they had to do without and all the other bills that went unpaid. Where was the Central Bank in all of this and why did it not act sooner?

I fully support the Sinn Féin motion calling for the Central Bank, An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to co-operate with a view to establishing if individuals as well as corporate entities can be held accountable for their part in this scandal. From the start, the scandal has been shrouded in secrecy on the part of the banks, the Central Bank and those appointed to conduct the review. There has been no criteria, no openness and no information. It is all being done behind closed doors. Why is the Bank of Ireland saying that staff with tracker mortgages are not eligible? Customers still do not know where they stand. Some people have received letters while others have not. It is past time for some honesty, accountability and transparency. The arrogance and foot dragging of these banks is disgraceful. I guess that this is the reward we get for giving these bankers a gentle slap on the wrist wrapped in €64 billion worth of citizens' hard-earned money and as well as that of those yet to be born. Perhaps the Icelandic approach would have resulted in a change in behaviour on the part of these bankers. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister for Finance to come before this House to debate the issue of trackers mortgages and, in particular, to commit to a strict deadline for issuing compensation.