Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance Pearse Doherty has expressed disbelief that the Central Bank has failed to take enforcement action against banks in the past five years for breaches of the Code of Conduct of Mortgage Arrears.
He said that from his dealings with constituents in Donegal and across the country, who have faced considerable hardship at the hands of some of these banks, that the information, released to him through a reply to a parliamentary question, defied credulity.
He has now called on the Central Bank to explain the lack of enforcement actions.
He said “It has been revealed by a reply I received to a parliamentary question I put to the Minister for Finance that the Central Bank has failed to take one single enforcement action in the past five years for breaches of the Code of Conduct for Mortgage Arrears.”
“The CCMA came into effect in July 2013 and was issued under Section 117 of the Central Bank Act 1989.”
“It was introduced to protect borrowers and ensure that banks deal with borrowers sympathetically and positively.”
“The Code is not a set of guidelines for the banks. They are required to comply with it as a matter of law.”
“I know from the constituents who have sat across from me in my clinics in Donegal and who have faced years or torment and hardship in dealing with banks, that they have been treated appalling and very unfairly.”
“The Central Bank was given the power to hand out sanctions where banks breach the Code of Conduct of Mortgage Arrears. But not one enforcement action has been taken since 2016.”
He added that it is not credible that not one bank has breached the Code on any occasion in the past five years.
“I have spoken to countless borrowers who have been denied Alternative Repayment Arrangements from their lenders in the past two months alone, despite losing their jobs as a result of the pandemic.”
“The Central Bank has questions to answer, and I have written to the Governor to ask what systems they have in place to identify breaches of the Code by banks.”
“We are in an economic crisis with historic job losses. With mortgage arrears inevitable, the Irish people need to have confidence that the Central Bank will do its job.”
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