Paschal Donohoe unhappy with Ulster Bank over tracker mortgages

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has scolded Ulster Bank over its handling of its tracker mortgage customers, saying he is “not happy” with its behaviour.

Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, Mr Donohoe was responding to questions about the scale and speed of redress being offered by the bank.

Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said “people are still not clear on the deadline. They are very unhappy with the deadline set for Ulster Bank, for example. It can be extended for the next seven months.”

In response Mr Donohoe made clear he was less than pleased with the response of Ulster Bank.

“On the question on Ulster Bank, I am not happy with the timing the bank has provided to me. I have engaged on this matter with the Central Bank, which is overseeing it,” he said.

“It has indicated that it believes the timescale given is the quickest in which Ulster Bank can do what is proposed, but it will continue to push Ulster Bank to try to have the work done sooner because its timing is different from the timings of the other banks in question.”

Mr Donohoe said he will await the report from the Central Bank before making a final adjudication as to whether further action is required from him as a minister. “My view, however, is that the best time to do this work would be after the Central Bank has published its report, which will be in December. At that point, we must know who has been affected and not affected.

“Until we know, providing weekly updates will not be helpful in getting the right agreement and solutions in place for all who have been affected. I will follow up on the matter, however.”

Mr Donohoe, responding to Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath, said he expected the numbers affected by the mortgage scandal to rise above the current figure of 26,000.

Mr McGrath said: “This scandal is growing arms and legs. The 13,000 has now become 19,000 when one includes the extra 6,000 from Bank of Ireland. Prior to that examination, there were another 7,100 cases uncovered.

“Between those alone, the total is now of the order of 26,000 mortgage accounts affected.”

In response, Mr Donohoe agreed by saying: “As to whether I expect the numbers to grow, yes I do. That is why I was clear that a crucial piece of work that needs to be done before Christmas is that we need to conclusively find out who has been affected. I expect that matter to be resolved by the middle of December.”