Written answers

Tuesday, 30 January 2018

Department of Finance

Tracker Mortgage Examination

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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106. To ask the Minister for Finance the actions his Department plans to take on foot of the significant protected disclosures by bank staff to the Central Bank regarding the tracker mortgage scandal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4134/18]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank is a prescribed person for a worker to make a disclosure under the Protected Disclosures Act, 2014 (the 2014 Act) which they believe is substantially true, and receives protected disclosures from persons who, in good faith make a disclosure under the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act, 2013 (the 2013 Act), to the Central Bank or to one of its employees or one of its authorised officers; and they have reasonable grounds for believing that the disclosure will show that there has been, is being or is likely to be a breach of, or an offence under, financial services legislation or the concealment or destruction of evidence relating to such an offence or breach.

Senior persons in regulated firms are required (pursuant to Section 38 (2) of the 2013 Act) to report suspected breaches of financial services legislation which they consider may be of material assistance to the Central Bank. 

A key protection in both pieces of legislation is that the identity of the reporting person is kept confidential. Except for specific, prescribed circumstances, the Central Bank cannot disclose the identity of the reporting person or any information which may by implication identify them. This protection is often of critical importance to those making such reports. The Central Bank takes this confidentiality obligation with the utmost seriousness. Any compromise of this obligation might discourage people from making disclosures to the Central Bank, all the more so if they are employees raising concerns about their own employers. 

The Central Bank does not share details of the nature of any protected disclosures it receives, whether relating to tracker mortgage issues or other issues, which might potentially identify reporting persons.

The Central Bank welcomes approaches from anyone with information that can help the Central Bank carry out its mission of safeguarding stability and protecting consumers. The Central Bank has a dedicated unit, the Protected Disclosures Desk, to receive protected disclosure/whistle-blowing reports regarding alleged breaches of financial services legislation from members of the public including employees working in regulated firms. The Protected Disclosures Desk is the primary point of contact for people to make reports. It also provides information regarding the process for making reports and how the Central Bank assesses the reports.  There is a dedicated section on the Central Bank’s website with further information on protected disclosures:.

The Central Bank considers protected disclosures as a valuable tool to assist in its supervision of regulated firms and individuals in those firms. A subject matter expert in the relevant supervisory division considers each protected disclosure and examines the allegations thoroughly.

The Central Bank publishes details on the work of the Protected Disclosures Desk in the Central Bank’s Annual Reports as well as an Annual Protected Disclosure Report setting out the number of reports received during the relevant reporting period and action taken. The Central Bank of Ireland received 44 protected disclosures from July 2015 to June 2016 and 79 from July 2016 to June 2017. All disclosures received were thoroughly assessed and, where required, appropriate action was taken.

The Central Bank encourages any person/employee who may have information in relation to suspected breaches of financial services legislation to come forward and my Department supports the Central Bank in carrying out its statutory functions in relation to protected disclosures.

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