Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There was a great deal of discussion yesterday regarding the information emerging about the activities of banks in this country. Few in this House can know what it is like to wake up in the morning and realise one is about to lose one's home. I have actually been there, but it happened back in the days when I could walk in and negotiate with my bank manager. I was fortunate that the bank I was dealing with, while taking my house, allowed me to walk away debt free and thus I was in a position to restart my life. I had a call yesterday from a person who worked for one of the pillar banks. I will not name the name the institution in question in deference to the Cathaoirleach. The caller told me of a manager at the bank who delighted in seeing a tracker mortgage taken from a client, seeing it as a win for the bank. What sort of attitude is that? Most of the people I know working in banks are genuine, decent and hard-working people, but a thug like that needs to be brought to heel. Likewise, the thugs who sit in the boardrooms of the banks of this country, who have stripped those banks of the managers who customers could talk to and cry with, need to be brought to heel.

My request to the Leader may seem somewhat crazy but the reality is that there is only one way to bring these fellows to heel and that is through the courts. Of course, no family in unfortunate circumstances could afford to do that. Why does the State not select a few of these cases and take them to court? We are not just talking about malpractice in respect of tracker mortgages but also in regard to variable interest rates. These people are not happy unless they take a person's blood. God being good, I managed to rebuild my life after losing my home and, just a few weeks ago, made the last payment on my mortgage. I decided to go into the bank and make the transaction in cash because it was the final payment due. I thought surely there would be a red carpet out for me, a bottle of champagne and somebody to shake my hand. There was none of that but I was presented with a charge of €35 to get my deeds back. What sort of God-damned people are these?

Will the Leader look into the situation of the crew of the LÉ Niamhwho are currently serving in the Mediterranean and have not been given their overseas payments? Their families are struggling, particularly those affected by Storm Ophelia.Perhaps the Leader will look into the issue for me today.