Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss this issue. However, I am deeply disappointed that we are having this type of debate yet again. It is not the first time the Oireachtas has had to examine disgraceful and reckless behaviour on the part of banks in this country. It is difficult to believe that we are in the same position again and, in this instance, the scale and impact of the wrongdoing is absolutely shocking. As of September last, some 13,000 mortgage holders had been denied their right to a tracker rate or had been moved onto the wrong rate, which cost them a fortune. Many of these customers were unable to meet their repayments, with the most recent figures showing that 102 people lost their properties. In 23 of those cases, the person's home was involved. How many of those people are now homeless? How many woke up this morning in the cold and the lashing rain? It is contemptible that banks' pursuit of profit could place people in this situation.

It is important, when considering the hardships inflicted on these people, to bear in mind that we are not dealing with circumstances where individuals lost their jobs or sources of income during the recession, as happened to so many in the past decade. What happened in these cases was purely the fault of the banks. Moreover, these were not some random accidents or isolated incidents. This particular practice happened across several independent banks over a number of years and, as such, appears to have become a systematic problem. That is a serious indictment of the attitude taken by banks to customers and also of the culture and ethos within those institutions. One wonders whether the people involved have any heart at all, or any compassion or empathy. Their behaviour has been disgraceful.

My focus in respect of issues of this nature is always on the families and individuals affected. We should never lose sight of the pain, hardship and distress this has caused. The Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach heard testimony from a man who, under intense pressure as a consequence of the actions of his bank, had a stroke at the age of 47. These types of stories should shame us. As legislators, we must consider what it feels like to lose one's home, the place where one spends cherished moments with family. To lose that home, not because one's income has dropped or a job has been lost but because one's bank illegally raised the repayment rate on one's mortgage such that it was impossible to cover the payments, amounts to a grave injustice. The human suffering, particularly the mental health impact, must not be forgotten. I commend the people who came forward to seek redress for this mistreatment. That took courage and persistence in light of how long this has been going on. They did not have the capacity for a class action suit but they pushed forward regardless. It can be difficult at the best of times to go toe to toe with a bank or financial institution in order to highlight an injustice and have it set to rights. The complexity of the issues in this instance makes it more difficult still. When one is inundated with legal letters, for example, it is incredibly hard to find the time and space needed to get out from under the pressure of the financial difficulties one is experiencing and make one's case.

A large number of the people affected have not received the moneys owing to them. I call on the Government and the banks involved to rectify this as a matter of urgency. For some people it could mean the difference between skipping a meal or not. That is the seriousness of what we are dealing with here. However, it is not enough simply to give the money back and say "Sorry". People have lost their homes and I am concerned that the redress schemes touted fall short of what is expected and what is being proposed by the Central Bank. We are all sick of situations like this whereby we are forced to debate the actions of banks in pursuit of profit and the ruin this has meant for ordinary people. We need to learn from this case and put robust controls in place to ensure it does not happen in future. That should be the key lesson from our last serious banking crisis and this latest scandal. We must deal with the way our banks are governed and the capacity of the Central Bank and the Government to regulate them. It is not good enough to keep saying that we must change the culture. As legislators, the onus is on us to act to make that happen. Given this latest scandal and those that have gone before it, I do not see how people can have any confidence in the State's ability to deal with reckless banking and financial institutions. People feel disempowered and, unless we act quickly, that will not change. I urge the Government to take every step needed to correct that situation.