Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to comment on the debate taking place around Permanent TSB and vulture funds. I agree with Senator McDowell that the public deserves to know the full extent of non-performing loans across all of the banks, not just those which were bailed out but also those which are regulated by the Central Bank.

Many issues around banking have failed to be resolved. The problems we are encountering now will occur again because everything is cyclical. The banks are dealing with the provision of loans in exactly the same manner as they did ten years ago just before the boom. All of the national newspapers are subscribing to this because they are all advertising loans and houses. The same thing is beginning to happen again.

Why are some banks offering clinics at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. on a Saturday where people can order mortgages? Why are banks beginning to write to people again? There is a need to scrutinise what has occurred and what we can learn from it. There is also a need to look at our education system and educate people before they take out a mortgage about the consequences of default.

A regular mortgage in my county of €200,000 over 30 years at the current variable rate of about 3.6% would result in interest payable of €130,500. The banks are fleecing the ordinary consumers who they are there to serve. The taxpayer has bailed out some of these institutions and will do so again. As sure as tomorrow is Wednesday this will happen again. We should consider this issue in an outside-of-the-box manner.

Why should an ordinary consumer without any financial expertise be able to walk into a bank and subscribe to or receive information from it about a product which is significantly financially lucrative for the bank? Should that not be done through an independent intermediary with no links whatsoever to any financial institution which is independently regulated by the regulator? There is a need to re-examine this issue because we will be back at square 1. I ask the Leader for a debate with the Minister for Finance on this general issue and other issues around banking.