Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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235. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the independent review carried out by a company (details supplied) of certain matters pertaining to Ulster Bank; if he is satisfied with the number of files which were reviewed and the number of customers interviewed, as part of the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23057/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Firstly, let me make clear that Ulster Bank is an independent institution and I, as Minister for Finance, have no role in operational matters in the bank including independent reviews or reports commissioned by the bank.

As the Deputy will be aware on 25 November 2013, Dr Lawrence Tomlinson published a report entitled "Banks' Lending Practices; Treatment of Businesses in Distress" (the "Tomlinson Report"). This report dealt with the lending practices of UK banks to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). This report alleged that a division of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the Global Restructuring Group (GRG), was guilty of "systematic and institutional behaviour" in artificially distressing otherwise viable businesses and thereby putting such businesses "on a journey towards administration, receivership, and liquidation." (the Principal Allegation)

I have been informed that in early 2014, a decision was taken by Ulster Bank Ireland Limited that an independent review should be undertaken in the Republic of Ireland into the relevance of the Principal Allegation to the corresponding division, namely the Global Restructuring Group Ireland.

On the 19th December 2014 Ulster Bank published the findings of the independent review by Mahon Hayes Curran into practices at Ulster Bank's Global Restructuring Group in the Republic of Ireland (GRGI). The investigation found no evidence to support the allegation and suggested that GRGI's driving policy was to manage its customers through the cycle, supporting them where possible to return them to viability.

I have been informed that in compiling the report, Mason Hayes & Curran reviewed 32 customer case studies, interviewed 39 staff members and reviewed 140,000 pages of customer files and 24 policy and procedures documents.

The basis for the sample selected is set out in section 3.2 of the report. This states that in seeking to determine the number of files to be reviewed, they used internationally accepted statistical sampling methods, as well as specifically looking at cases for customers who had contacted them directly or made a complaint to Ulster Bank Ireland Limited on a Tomlinson related issue and who wished to have such complaint reviewed. They also thought it would be helpful to concentrate specifically on those trading companies which had been dealt with in Recoveries and placed into receivership, and those customers who had transactions involving WRI (West Register Ireland).