The tracker mortgage scandal: Banks almost destroyed my family

Caitríona Redmond and her family spent 20 years fighting their bank after it illegally withdrew the tracker rate

Over 42,000 families were affected by the tracker mortgage scandal and put under enormous pressure to pay money they never really owed, but just one person has ever been held responsible.

Caitríona Redmond and her family spent 20 years fighting their bank after it illegally withdrew the tracker rate. 

They were put under immense pressure to pay thousands more than they owed, at a time when her husband had lost his job and they had very young children.

The Redmonds went through seven separate procedures with the bank, which involved every penny they spent being scrutinised. They were criticised for spending €70 a week on food for five people.

In today’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast, Caitríona describes the impact on the couple’s mental and physical health.

"There'd be some times when [John] would have walked out of the house and I remember ringing one of his brothers saying: 'I don't know where he is. Can you see where he is? I'm really worried about him'. 

"And I wasn't... I wasn't really worried that he'd do something, he was just so out of his mind with stress. You know, he just needed to talk to somebody other than me.” 

Caitríona, who now writes a consumer column for the Irish Examiner, began blogging about her recipes and budgeting, and was contracted to write a cookbook – but the family budget didn’t extend to buying ingredients for recipe testing.

“I'd signed a contract to write a cookery book with Mercier, and we didn't have enough money for me to pay for the ingredients for the recipe testing. And I rang Mam and I said, you know, I was under pressure, I was under deadlines.

“And Mam was like, right, I'm just gonna see what I have. And she arrived up with two big bags of shopping. Like she literally just like hoofed it all out and into the shopping bag.”