THE CEO OF Permanent TSB has emphasised that “serious failures” in the handling of hundreds of mortgages was an inherited problem.
An investigation by the Central Bank revealed yesterday that as many as 22 of these more than 1,300 cases people may have kept their homes had the failures not occurred.
The events occurred after homeowners lost their contractual right to a tracker rate because of the failures in the management of the accounts.
Jeremy Masding, who took over the bank in 2012, said the blame was partly on those who managed the bank in the years prior.
“I apologise unreservedly for what happened,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
I do think the timeline is important. The problem started in 2006, 7, 8. Myself and my team, many of whom came in from overseas, started in 2012, and so this was an inherited problem.
Masding described Permanent TSB at the time as a “broken bank”, which he and his team had to set about fixing in the face of calls for it to be liquidated or merged with another bank.
The bank, which is facing millions in fines, has now put in a place what it calls a comprehensive redress scheme — “We want to fix it, we want to put it right.” — but families have reacted with anger to the plans.
One told the Irish Independent that the €50,000 offer is “insulting”, and described the huge sacrifices the family had to make after being required to pay close to €2,000 a month in mortgage repayments.
Masding was questioned on but refused to answer was an photo of him captured at a press conference yesterday in which a note to himself was visible.
It read: “Serious, controlled, no smile.”
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