Tracker mortgage fraud - Make it personal

The hedgehog defence — roll up into a ball and do nothing — is a standard ploy in Irish life. Any institutions robust enough to endure an immediate scandal knows that once the eye of the storm passes normal service can pretty much resume.

This policy has worked, to some degree at least, for the Catholic church, the Garda and any number of beleaguered public figures. But most of all it has worked for the banks.

One scandal after another, Ansbacher, off-shore accounts, interest rates far above the EU norm, reckless lending that beggared the State, the destruction of wealth, especially pensions, have had little or no consequences for bankers.