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Fianna Fáil's Michael McGrath. Niall Carson/PA

Fianna Fáil calls for punitive action after 10,000 customers 'wrongly denied' tracker mortgages

Reports suggest the final bill for the banks and other lenders could run to over €1 billion.

FIANNA FÁIL HAS called on the Central Bank to intervene as it emerges that over 10,000 mortgage customers were wrongly denied tracker mortgages.

The party’s Finance spokesman Michael McGrath has accused Irish banks of “wilful abuse” of the law in their dealings with customers in the escalating tracker mortgage scandal.

Bank of Ireland has identified a further 602 mortgage customers wrongly denied a tracker rate and 3,916 tracker customers who were overcharged. Several other banks have already confirmed they wrongly denied thousands of customers a tracker mortgage.

McGrath said the figures of mortgage holders wrongly denied a track mortgage could be “well north of 10,000″.

Yesterday Bank of Ireland confirmed it overcharged almost 4,000 mortgage holders.

Reports suggest the final bill for the banks and other lenders could run to over €1 billion.

“It has become increasingly clear that the practice of denying mortgage customers their contractual right to a tracker interest rate was systemic and widespread across the banking industry,” he said in a statement.

This practice has changed the lives of thousands of families for the worse and has inflicted on some families the devastation of losing their home.

“While the full picture is still only emerging, it is now distinctly possible that well north of 10,000 mortgage holders were wrongly denied a tracker mortgage rate with thousands of others being overcharged on their tracker rate.

It is not credible to argue that this was anything other than a wilful abuse of the contractual rights of customers by the main lenders in Ireland.

He added that the Central Bank has to “lay down a firm marker” once and for all by implementing “punitive” sanctions.

Philip Lane, the governor of the Central Bank, appear before the Oireachtas Finance Committee on Tuesday.

McGrath has also called on the Central Bank to find out who knew about the overcharging practices at board and senior executive level in the country’s banks.

Read: Bank of Ireland confirms it overcharged on almost 4,000 mortgages

Read: Gardaí seize €120,000 in cash and drugs worth €40,000 in Cork raids

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    Mute Joanna
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    Aug 4th 2015, 1:39 PM

    Where did it come from? What did it want???

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    Mute Matt Connolly
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    Aug 4th 2015, 1:47 PM

    Actually, I think breaking news got in first.

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    Mute Tom the Bomb
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    Aug 4th 2015, 1:17 PM

    Some serious proof reading issues here…

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    Mute Dylan Drein
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    Aug 4th 2015, 1:11 PM

    Snarls? Really?

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    Mute Enoch Burke IV
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    Aug 4th 2015, 2:12 PM

    Sorry my comment did not violate your suspect comments policy. For the record I pointed to how this can make global news but the stories of planned parenthood harvesting organs from unborn babies gets totally buried and I lamented the state of modern journalism. The journals censorship of my comment only backs up my criticism. Shame on the censors at thejournal.ie.

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    Mute Dylan Drein
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    Aug 4th 2015, 2:35 PM

    They’re not harvesting organs and you’re well aware of this. They’re using stem cells from aborted foetuses which has massive potential in the medical field for transplants and grafts etc. Of course it’s all done with the permission of the woman having the abortion, and means that the stem cells can do massive amounts of good for those in need of it rather than simply disposing of the foetus as is done at the moment. Don’t let any of these facts get in the way of your holier than thou ramblings though, you clearly need something else to sink your teeth into now that the same-sex marriage referendum has passed.

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    Mute Tom Colgan
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    Aug 4th 2015, 5:12 PM

    This is making me want to watch the minions movie. Haven’t seen it, any body recommend it?

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    Aug 4th 2015, 5:39 PM

    It’s idiotic and stupid…but I loved it!

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    Aug 4th 2015, 7:52 PM

    That one is Norbet, he’s an idiot

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    Aug 4th 2015, 1:26 PM

    The best was RTE’s 9 news last night quoting the local councillor when relating to the h+s ”as despicable”.

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