END THE TRACKER SCANDAL

offer her apologies to the affected homeowners – while the bank’s press office declined to reply to queries on the matter. KBC also declined to apologise.

Only Jeremy Masding, the CEO of PTSB, offered an apology saying he has said sorry before and that this still stood.

The meetings were, however, labelled a ‘pantomime’ by mortgage campaigner David Hall, who said the tracker controversy was ‘one of the biggest financial scandals involving customers’.

Last night it emerged that up to 7,000 extra homeowners could be affected by the scandal.

Finance Minister Mr Donohoe told the Government that following his meetings with the banks yesterday, it emerged that 7,000 homeowners may still not know that they are affected.

He said that there were 7,000 people who were affected and who have been compensated in total. Further to this there are 13,000 for whom redress is in process.

This plus the latest 7,000 extra homeowners brings to a total of 27,000 that have been wrongly taken off tracker rates or put on wrong rates.

Furthermore, the Mail can reveal that Mr Donohoe is telling the banking executives who are visiting them that they need to have ready by tomorrow a clear timeline for when the original 20,000 homeowners will be compensated.

Mr Donohoe said he wants each bank to come back to him by Christmas with a plan for exactly when these homeowners will be contacted, and if necessary, when they will be compensated.

A Cabinet source told the Mail: ‘The minister made it very clear that this is not just a case of hauling the banks in and talking to them, and sending them on their merry way. Instead there needs to be a clear timeline given by Wednesday about exactly when the 20,000 will be given redress.

‘The message is clear: we will act if they do not.’

However, a measure floated by junior finance minister Michael D’Arcy to take consumer protection powers away from the Central Bank has been unequivocally shot down by Cabinet.

Meanwhile, the Mail can reveal that none of the main lenders will state whether any official has faced sanction for the controversy.

But the Central Bank told the Mail last night that they are pursuing all avenues of enforcement – including ‘individual culpability.’

While Bank of Ireland and KBC refused to apologise, Permanent TSB boss Mr Masding said: ‘I have apologised to the customers and I’ll take this time as well to reiterate that. As I say, really what we are now trying to do is to fix this issue in a timely and professional manner.’ He said that it is his plan to have all customers compensation by Christmas.

Bank of Ireland’s CEO Francesca McDonagh declined to offer a public apology to her customers and said instead that the bank would make a statement in due course.

‘We had a meeting with the minwould