Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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161. To ask the Minister for Finance the nature and status of the enforcement proceedings under way against the main banks in the tracker mortgage scandal; the date on which the enforcement proceedings began; the specific banks against which proceedings have been taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4319/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank has advised that it has utilised its enforcement powers and continues to pursue enforcement actions in response to tracker mortgage issues that have been identified at certain lenders. The Bank has already concluded an enforcement investigation in respect of tracker mortgage-related failures identified at Springboard Mortgages Limited in November 2016. In that instance the Bank imposed a monetary penalty of €4.5 million on Springboard in respect of the failures.

The Central Bank is currently pursuing enforcement investigations in relation to tracker mortgage-related issues arising in permanent tsb plc and Ulster Bank Ireland DAC. Two further enforcement investigations into other lenders are in train and it is expected that all of the main lenders will face enforcement investigations.

 The Central Bank has advised that these enforcement investigations will be informed by evidence obtained and gathered as part of the Central Bank’s on-going tracker mortgage examination and by other means. Enforcement investigations are detailed and forensic and involve the scrutiny of large volumes of documentation and interviews with relevant individuals as part of the investigative process in order to establish the exact circumstances of matters under investigation. In the enforcement investigations, the Central Bank will consider all possible angles, including potential individual culpability, and will thoroughly investigate and analyse matters in the context of the applicable legal framework.

 It is important to note that in relation to its on-going enforcement investigations, the Central Bank is bound by strict confidentiality and professional secrecy rules both at national level, section 33AK of the Central Bank Act, 1942, and at EU level, namely, the Rome Treaty, the ECSB Statute and in this case, the Capital Requirements Directive IV.  As a result, the Central Bank cannot publicly disclose further details of its on-going supervisory and enforcement engagement with individual firms. In general, the Central Bank is only permitted to disclose aggregate information such that an individual firm cannot be identified from that disclosure or where information, such as for example where a firm itself publicly discloses that it is the subject of enforcement investigations, is already in the public domain.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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162. To ask the Minister for Finance the most recent value of the payment to affected persons at the behest of the Central Bank in the tracker mortgage scandal; the number of persons involved, by bank in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4320/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank has advised that, due to statutory confidentiality requirements, the Bank may not publicly disclose much of its supervisory engagement with individual firms. In particular, the Central Bank can, generally speaking, only disclose such information in summary or aggregate form so that individual firms cannot be identified.

However, the Central Bank has advised that pursuant to their industry wide examination, as at end-December approximately 26,600 impacted tracker mortgage customers have been identified and the most recent information is that circa. €269 million has been provided in redress and compensation to around 13,600 of these accounts.  This is in addition to the 7,100 impacted customers that were identified prior to the industry wide examination who received €47 million in redress and compensation owing to tracker related failings by their lenders. This brings the total number of impacted customers identified as at end-December to 33,700 and the total amount of redress and compensation provided so far to €316 million. However, the Deputy may also wish to note that the main lenders are currently in the process of providing evidence and information to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, including an update on their progress to date on the tracker examination.

While the Central Bank’s view is that the vast majority of impacted customers have now been identified and that known issues around disputed groups in respect of lenders have now been resolved, the Bank will continue to review, challenge and verify the work undertaken by the lenders and complete their intrusive on-site inspection programme.

The Government will continue to support the Central Bank in its efforts to complete the tracker examination as quickly as possible, and I look forward to receiving a further update report from the Central Bank in due course on the basis of end-March 2018 data.