Doherty Hopes Central Bank Engaging With Garda Is 'Not Just A Ticking Box Exercise'

Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD has said he hopes the Central Bank engaging with An Garda Síochána over the tracker mortgage scandal is "not just a box ticking exercise in the face of so much public anger".

However, Mr Doherty also welcomed the announcement that they are in discussions with each other.

He said: "The exchange was enlightening in other ways too. I raised the fact that the lenders were supposed to appoint 'consumers' voices' to their teams working on the tracker issue. I imagine this will be news to the thousands of victims dealing with the banks. I am concerned that the Central Bank had to question some of these appointments. I am seeking further clarity on who these people are and what exactly they have been doling.


"Taken together with the fact that the bank seems timid in its engagement with AIB around what that bank has decided is a 'prevailing rate', I am still fearful that it is the lenders, not the central Bank, who are really in control of this examination. The fact that the Consumer Protection head in the Central Bank has now also been appointed as Deputy Governor in charge of Financial Regulation is indicative of a lack of focus on this issue."

(CD/LM)