Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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188. To ask the Minister for Finance if all customers incorrectly denied a tracker rate mortgage, including those that were affected prior to 2013, will be compensated by their respective lenders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34256/17]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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189. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated compensation and redress bill banks will have to meet to rectify the issue of persons incorrectly removed from their tracker rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34257/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 188 and 189 together.

The Central Bank Tracker Mortgage Examination requires lenders, which offered tracker interest rate mortgages to their customers, to review all mortgage accounts from the date when the lender commenced offering tracker interest mortgages until 31 December 2015 in respect of both Private Dwelling Houses and Buy-to-Let properties:

- that originated on tracker interest rates;

- that had tracker interest rates applied at any stage during the term of the underlying mortgage agreements; and/or

- where the underlying mortgage agreements provided for contractual rights to or options for tracker interest rates at any stage during the term of the agreements.

All tracker mortgage accounts that fall within this scope are covered by the Examination.   Where lenders identify impacted customers, they are required to put in place a redress and compensation scheme in accordance with the Framework and Principles for Redress set down by the Central Bank.

The Central Bank Examination is still on-going and final figures on redress and compensation will not be available until it is completed.  However, the Tracker Examination is a priority for the Central Bank and it has set specific timelines for lenders to complete Phase 2 of the Examination, which identifies impacted customers, the last of which will be completed no later than end September 2017.  Lenders are currently at varying stages of the review and some lenders have already commenced redress and compensation payments. As the Deputy is aware, the most recent Central Bank update report on the Examination was published in March 2017 and it indicated that, as at end February 2017, 9,900 impacted customer accounts were identified by lenders. At that date lenders had contacted the majority of these accounts requiring rate rectification. Of the accounts identified as impacted, approximately €78m has been paid out in redress and compensation to approximately 2,600 accounts.

The Central Bank has also advised that a further update will be provided on the Examination in autumn 2017.