Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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165. To ask the Minister for Finance further to his written request to the Governor of the Central Bank on 9 July 2015 to provide him with information in respect of the number of mortgages that were switched from a tracker to a variable rate since 2008 to date, if he will now confirm this figure or provide the reason for this information not being available as per his written request; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39726/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I note that the Deputy previously raised this matter in a Topical Issues Debate in July 2015 and subsequently in Parliamentary Question 34323/15 in October 2015. The Central Bank has also written to the Deputy on this subject and the Central Bank has informed me that the position as outlined in its letter of July 2015 still stands.

However, as the Deputy is aware, the Central Bank has commenced an industry wide examination of tracker mortgage related issues covering among other things transparency of communications with and contractual rights of tracker mortgage customers. The Tracker Mortgage Examination is a key priority for the Central Bank and it continues to challenge lenders to ensure that progress is being made and fair outcomes are being achieved for customers.

The review is currently ongoing and while all lenders are currently in the process of carrying out their internal reviews it is important to note that some lenders may have their internal reviews completed sooner than others depending on the size of their mortgage books and the complexities associated with them completing the Examination.

As groups of impacted customers are identified, in the first instance the lender must stop charging the incorrect rate of interest on the customer's account and then communicate this to the customer to ensure that any further customer detriment is stopped as early as possible.

Once a full review of the customer's account is complete, following external independent third party assurance, the lender will then issue a letter to the customer explaining the nature of the error, the correct rate to apply to the customer's account and information on the next steps in the Examination, including the redress and compensation process.

The Central Bank will provide an update on progress on the Examination before the year end and it has indicated that it can provide a copy of this update to the Deputy.