Sir, – So, our Taoiseach is demanding that the banks repay those mortgage-holders who were incorrectly deprived of tracker mortgages.
Will the banks pay attention? Probably, but in their own good time.
The fact that the Taoiseach has to make this demand shows that the problem of weak or non-existent regulation, which was one of the main reasons we found ourselves ruled by the troika in recent years, still persist.
In any well-regulated economy, the banks would be fined tens of millions for treating their customers so badly. Executive and boardroom heads would roll.
But this is Ireland, where the meek – our governments and financial regulators – will be rewarded in heaven, while the banks’ customers experience purgatory in this life.
Have we learned anything? – Yours, etc,
ANTHONY O’LEARY,
Portmarnock, Co. Dublin.
Sir, – There is merit in the suggestion by the chairman of the Oireachtas Finance Committee, John McGuinness, that banks should have restrictions placed on their banking licences. Currently there appears to be no major threat against financial institutions for misbehaviour.
Why not introduce a penalty point system similar to that applying to motorists? Breaches of the regulations would attract points and the accumulation of a certain number of points would result in the loss of their licence to practice.
If the financial regulator monitored the banks closely and applied the rules diligently, the fear of loss of licence would keep the banks on their toes. – Yours, etc,
LESLIE LAWLESS,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – "They were lied to by their banks, they were bullied. Relationships will have broken down, people will have fallen ill – physically and mentally – childhoods will have been ruined and people will have gone without many of life's essentials – food, heat, light, education – just to keep on top of payments that were far higher than they needed to be" ("Q&A: The home-loan controversy", October 12th).
Thank you, Conor Pope, for telling it like it is. – Yours, etc,
MARY BYRNE,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.