Hounded borrowers - Urgent action is needed

THE Irish Bankers’ Federation was absolutely right when it described as “emotive” the claim by the Master of the High Court Edmund Honohan that banks were driving debt-ridden borrowers to suicide.

Given the countrywide crisis of personal indebtedness, Mr Honohan had every right to use emotive language. This is a highly emotive issue. As he succinctly put it, he has met the widows of people driven to take their own lives over relatively small debts.

Few people are better placed to speak with authority on the dire situation confronting borrowers hounded by the banks. If his intention was to shock the system out of complacency, judging by the public reaction and the furore in the Dáil yesterday, he has succeeded.