‘Bank of Ireland squeezing struggling families harder than any other bank’

Bank of Ireland is squeezing struggling Irish families harder than any other bank and the result for households is “disaster”, the Dáil has been told.

Wicklow TD Stephen Donnelly said that in its efforts to drive up its share price, Bank of Ireland was not offering sustainable solutions similar to other banks and the chances of families having a successful outcome when negotiating with BoI was “much less”.

“Deferred interest, payment moratorium and permanent interest rate reduction are not Bank of Ireland solutions.

“Bank of Ireland is the only bank that charges interest on the shelved portion of the split mortgage,” he said before adding that its chief executive, Richie Boucher, admitted to a Dáil committee that in over 90% of the offers it makes, the family will end up paying more money back to the bank.

“To join the dots, Bank of Ireland is squeezing struggling Irish families harder than any other bank. The result for shareholders is profit but the result for many Irish families is disaster,” he told the Dáil during Leaders Questions yesterday.

Mr Donnelly claimed the Government could resolve the issue by providing a standardised set of solutions for all to be used by all banks.

He said the Tánaiste had earlier this week laid out four principles by which we should act — “sustainable prosperity, shared prosperity, a threshold of decency, and openness and transparency”.

He said that by “standing idly by” and allowing Bank of Ireland behave the way it does, Mr Gilmore was violating his own principles.

Labour Party leader Eamonn Gilmore said the Government expected all banks to deal fairly with distressed mortgage holders.

He pointed to the latest CSO figures which, for the first time in five years, showed a drop in the number of people in arrears for more than 90 days.

“We expect the Bank of Ireland, like every other institution, to deal on a case-by-case basis, and fairly, with people in mortgage arrears and difficulty. The Government will continue to pursue that policy with the banks and through the Central Bank”, he said.

Mr Gilmore said the Coalition made it clear from the beginning of the crisis it wanted to avoid people losing their homes.

He said people’s biggest fear was not losing their jobs or businesses, but their homes.