The Bank of Ireland (BoI) has announced that an additional 6,000 tracker cases will be included in the compensation and redress scheme.

Sinn Fein Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty welcomed the announcement and called on more pressure to be applied to the Ulster Bank to accelerate its scheme and on PTSB to apply the tracker rate as per the contract of the victims.

Mr Doherty said: "I am glad to see Bank of Ireland finally accept that 6,000 more cases are eligible for the redress and compensation. The fact that only in September they were supposed to have published final figures shows the ongoing contempt the banks for the Central Bank's process and for the victims.

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"That figure in September was only a total of 4,300. So today we suddenly find out that number has increased by almost 150%.

"Next week my colleague Donnchadh Ó’Laoghaire and I will move a Bill to empower victims of this scandal and future scandals to act together in a class action suit. This is a critical response to shift the balance in favour of consumers.

"Public and political pressure must now be focused on Ulster Bank whose timetable is pitifully slow and on Permanent TSB who have returned customer to a rate well above what their contract entitles them to.

"I am convinced that the testimony of victims and the work of the Finance Committee have brought about a real momentum that was sorely lacking from government or the Central Bank."

(CD/MH)