There must be prompt redress for bank victims

THE Irish have long been deemed a fair-minded people with a limited capacity for anger and no great capacity to sustain such anger. But the banks’ failure to give redress on tracker mortgages could change all that. We have had a week of national anger at the treatment of up to 30,000 borrowers who were wrongly deprived of their tracker mortgages for many years. The Central Bank has reported on how slowly and poorly many of the 11 lenders have been in paying compensation.

Politicians across all parties agree that it is utterly unacceptable. Ordinary people are infuriated.

Today, and later this week, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is due to meet the senior people from the various banks. In the run-in to these vital meetings, the Taoiseach has spoken strongly and explicitly about the need for prompt action here. But the mood music behind all of this is not very encouraging. There is a strong sense that the regulatory powers here are not all they might be.

The experience in this country is that banks only respond to being potentially hit where it hurts – on their balance sheets. This grim reality must be uppermost in Mr Donohoe’s mind as he begins these meetings.

Every and all means to oblige the banks to act on this issue must be deployed. We are beyond vague promises or generalised undertakings here. We need action on delivering redress and appropriate compensation to help restore borrowers’ shattered lives.