The bankers who oversaw the removal or denial of tracker mortgages should be investigated for "common theft", according to Sinn Féin.

Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD has called for the tracker mortgage scandal to be considered a "criminal matter".

He said: "We heard the usual refrain from Minister Noonan that this is a matter for the Central Bank. This scandal is much too important for that attitude to prevail. It is time for the Minister as the major shareholder in two of the banks involved to start asking questions about what happened at those banks under his watch. It is not too much to ask that the Minister ask questions about what was going on at banks he is the major shareholder in. It is also time for a criminal investigation into the theft of thousands of families’ hard earned money.

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"Many of the affected customers have contacted me expressing their frustration at the lack of progress in their cases. The same standard letter month after month is all that many have heard. The Minister and the Central Bank have failed to see just how big this scandal is and how much damage has been done to families as a result.

"The affected families have done no wrong, yet the banks that took their money still hold all the cards. Like any other theft, it is the State's criminal investigators that must be involved in holding those responsible to account through the legal process not some obscure and secretive Central Bank investigation."

(CD/LM)