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TDS HAVE URGED the Central Bank to closely watch the behaviour of banks to ensure they do not pass on fines for their regulatory breaches to their customers.
This week Permanent TSB was handed a €21 million fine for breaches that impacted on more than 2,000 of its customers as part of the wider tracker mortgage scandal. It is expected that other lenders responsible for this overcharging of customers will also face fines from the regulator.
Fianna Fáil TD and chair of the Oireachtas Finance Committee John McGuinness said the fines should “come off the bottom line”.
This should be affecting directors of the bank and the Central Bank should make sure that happens and that taxpayers and customers of the banks don’t end up having to pay in increased charges.
He said charges brought in by banks in the run up to fines and any subsequent increased charges for customers “need to be challenged by the Central Bank”.
“The banks can anticipate these fines and we have already seen they try every single day to get around the regulatory system.”
TheJournal.ie asked Permanent TSB if the bank wanted to offer reassurance to customers that they would not end up having to cover the cost of the €21 million fine through higher loan costs and fees.
A spokesperson said the bank “won’t be making any further comment at this time”.
Following confirmation of the fine, PTSB’s chief executive Jeremy Masding had apologised for the distress caused. He said “building on the lessons learnt from this issue, Permanent TSB has invested heavily in enhancing the organisation’s risk management and control environment”.
Just this week it was reported that the bank will increase the fixed monthly payment for its Explore current account by 50% this summer. This will make it more difficult for the bank’s customers to qualify for free banking.
‘Individuals made decisions’
McGuinness said the fine was just “one piece” of the action being taken in response to the scandal. He said the Central Bank is still looking at whether individuals in the banks who overcharged their customers should also be financially sanctioned.
In evidence given to the Finance Committee, executives for the banks have blamed the scandal on systems failures, rather than deliberate decision-making, but McGuinness asked “who believes that?”.
“The fact is that they all made the same mistake at the same time with the same results and people are not foolish, they know what happened here,” he said.
Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said that while a large fine is “a blow” for a financial institution, “the only real deterrent will individual accountability”.
“There will be a real test for the Central Bank here. The reality is that a fine, while it is a deterrent, it will end up on the shoulders of customers.
It wasn’t a system that overcharged those 2,000 customers, it wasn’t systems that took homes from people, it wasn’t systems that told customers they were wrong when they were right. It was individuals – senior managers – who made decisions.
Doherty said Permanent TSB, and other banks, should act ‘customer-centred’ when dealing with court challenges from customers in relation to the tracker mortgage scandal.
“There were some customers settling out of court this week and even though we’ve written to them Permanent TSB hasn’t given any guarantee that it will look at other files similar to those cases to see if they can also be settled,” he said.
“If they were customer-centred, they would do that. Not everyone has the financial ability to take them to the courts. The banks have an army of lawyers facing individuals who are already financially strained as a result of the actions of the banks.”
PTSB has admitted in full to 42 separate regulatory breaches of the Code of Practice for Credit Institutions 2001 and the Consumer Protection Codes 2006 and 2012.
The Central Bank’s Director of Enforcement and Anti-Money Laundering, Seána Cunningham, said that the investigation into PTSB found that they had “failed to put their customers first, with distressing and, in some instances, devastating consequences”.
PTSB failed in their obligations to do the right thing by their customers. In doing so, they broke the trust of their customers and damaged the public’s confidence in PTSB.
“At a minimum, customers should be provided with clear and timely information and warnings about their mortgage, the highest levels of customer service and a commitment from their lender to put things right promptly and fairly should they go wrong.”
Cunningham warned that where firms fail to protect their customers’ best interests, the Central Bank’s response will be “robust and the consequences will be serious”.
This evening, Lowry told TheJournal.ie that Labour leaking the note had brought politics to “a new low”.
In fairness Lowry would be a good judge on what can bring politics to a “new low”
He seriously needs to stop blaming others for his own mess ups. If he hadn’t written that on the note there wouldn’t have been anything to give to the journalists now would there?
Agreed Lowry is an expert bringing politics to a new low, we must believe him….
POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK , POOR TIP FCUKER>
Mike doesn’t like leaks about his politicking – I wonder why ?
Anything out of Tipperary brings politics to a new low..
This note is in his own handwriting so it is the truth of the man and he calls it a new low -
and he having been in Court for much more serious offences …..
This guy has no conscience it would seem and that to put it in biblical terms, if true, is Evil personified !
Lowry playing the victim again. Pathetic.
The Tip. Electorate keep on voting for this dinosaur. It beggars believe.
I walked into a friends house today and there in his post was a leaflet from the local FG …T.D.
Didn’t read it buy the headline was “Update on budget 2015 “…..
The timing of the election is pencilled in when you see that !
Would you prefer to vote for Kelly the labour hasbeen
Come on Tipp you have to have better than both !
Pork barrel politics.
Time the big cities took on these mountainy men, and refused to be saddled with high property taxes and high inheritance taxes, when farmers can pass on their assets to their children free of inheritance tax.
Time you went to bed Sean. You’re getting far too excited for this time of night.
OMG what a laugh. Lowry accuses someone of bring politics to a new low:
Wikipedia :
“Lowry is a former Chairman of the Fine Gael political party and was Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications between 1994 and 1996. He resigned his ministry in some controversy, and Fine Gael barred him from standing for their party again. Thereafter, he ran as an independent candidate and has maintained his seat in the Dáil ever since. The Moriarty Tribunal concluded “beyond doubt” that Lowry was a tax evader and had assisted businessman Denis O’Brien’s consortium Esat Digiphone in acquiring a lucrative mobile phone licence in the mid-1990s, during Lowry’s time as Communications Minister. O’Brien went on to become one of the richest men in Ireland.[2]
Lowry also initiated a defamation lawsuit against Irish Independent journalist Sam Smyth, over an article Smyth had written regarding the Moriarty Tribunal as well as comments Smyth had made on a TV3 show. The defamation lawsuit was thrown out of several courts and Lowry was ordered to pay Smyth’s legal costs. In more recent times his relationship with Kevin Phelan has come under scrutiny, with the emergence of a recorded conversation in which Lowry claims to have made an undeclared payment of €250,000.”
When you’re a cowboy in the morning,
You’ll be a cowboy in the evening..
And you sir are some Fooking cowboy…
The people of Tipperary should be ashamed of themselves for constantly electing this man.
But he gets the roads fixed and appears at the opening of post offices. It is the same with the Healy Rae’s. As long as it’s ‘one of their own’ people turn a blind eye. Brian Cowen is still a hero in Offaly and Bertie in north Dublin and look how much they screwed us over
He did promise them a Casino in fairness.
Not all of Offaly beano is cowen a hero. Only down where his from or his fellow ff crowd.
I love in North dublin beano and Bertie is not considered a hero here. Not by a long shot. He’s a completely busted flush. Back into the cupboard with him!
He is a sexist ignorant pig
You’re not bad looking Gillian!! Oops sorry!
I agree Hal . Much ado about nothing . Headline seeking article.
Why? Have you never said a person was not bad looking ?
What if it a code for something else ?
Soon we even hear anything negative about these TDs unless the gov says so…. The propaganda media machine in Ireland just got turned up a few more notches… http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/broadcasters-must-not-undermine-authority-of-state-under-new-guidelines-30941115.html
iPhone Joan is at it again – The Mrs. Thatcher of Irish Politics, is out to do in that lovely chauvinist guy , Michael Lowry !
My golly , it gets funnier by the minute , with this useless lot of a Coalition .
Undermine the authority of the State ….
and what about the Bailout without referendum …?
Well the night of the Long Knives failed – (seanad abolition) so the burning of the books is going to blow up in their faces as well !
This is just so embarrassing. What a joke.
Lowry on the aboltion of slavery: ‘its poltical correctness gone mad’
Sounds like he had a Mr Burgess, good girl Sharon moment.
Why is this man allowed to sit in the Dail. Politicians are in enough disrepute already without this character? In the UK he would have been suspended
It’s a long way from House of Cards. What a shower of useless gimps in that place. Even the opposition. Where in the name of sweet jebus are the focused, talented and sharp people of this country?
People from outside of politics need to start seriously thinking about becoming involved in it, bringing new approaches and their own expertise. People with ability and ideas would eviscerate those clowns in debates – and be guaranteed seats.
Our politicians are like school in summer. No class.
Least me now know how the Country is fecked.. To get a top job in the civil service all is needed is somebody to pass on a note saying how good looking you are… The debs committee in your local school is run better than our Government
Stupid as a fox. He has the bumpkin idiot brigade in Tipperary convinced he’s the messiah.
You all have lovely bottoms
I guarantee the women in question is secretly delighted while being outwardly outraged
The wording of the note is not the issue. It is the fact that it’s the same old canvassing and cronyism still carrying on. Neither Lowry or Kelly do themselves, or politics in this country any credit. Then again you would be a fool to expect anything else from these self serving parasites.
Do ye remember the R.T.E. programme investigating an overspend on a public building in Tipp …
the place had a fortune spent on it and it was still in very poor condition…
“If we had another millin we’d finish it !” was the quote from the local Geronimo who had been involved in the project …
What do you do with that – no concept of any possible wrongdoing ……
A FAS job to boot !
Says it all really about our politics. Lap gate / note gate …
Who was the other Fine Gael former Minister who got unwanted press over a press secretary or some such ?
Ah yes, it was Philip Hogan !
Love it when a politician says ‘How dare you report my corruption to the media!’
“stupid and silly” could have been on the smug election posters…..for both of them.
The man is a leach on Irish society. He might do the people of North Tipp the odd favour, but he is a Me Feiner. He treats the people of Ireland with contempt, and should be treated similarly by the people of Ireland
His pal Dennis O’B, is one very fat leach too..
Make a start.
Boycott Topaz..
His right Kelly the labour party didn’t write the note but they did give a note addressed to the taoiseach to a journalist.
Not bad looking up his own arsêhole.
The calibre of politician we elect in this country truly boggles the mind. Michael Lowry, corrupt as they come, is lecturing other people in relation to low standards and “malicious intent”. Breathtaking…
No doubt Lowry is totally antediluvian in his attitude to women but the actual note wasn’t really as bad as the hype made it out to be!
Yes it is, it’s cronyism pure and simple.
He’d probably get up on a cracked plate.
A big fuss over nothing. She’s very attractive.
What would Lowey know about decency he is a sleeveen and should not be in Government, he betrayed the Irish people when he stood with DOBBY.
I’m trying to figure out which of the two issues people are more incensed with. The fact that he canvassed or called a woman “not bad looking”.
Personally, the ‘not bad looking’ remark is annoying, but does not surprise me. It does, however, show a remarkable lack of judgement on Lowry’s part. He’s made himself look like a right gobsh!te. The canvassing does bother me, however. Is this really the way business is conducted in the Dáil?
Agreed, the comment and the manner in which he related it is idiotic. But it should be separated from the fact that cronyism is alive and well despite repeated promises to the contrary. That’s what we should be focussing on. The most decent men and women in this world will always make mild innuendo. it doesn’t mean we disrespect each other.
Why are people focusing on this note? The guy is only one step removed from a gangster. He’s seems to have done some very dodgy deals over the years but Id hope, when I’m 61 that Id get away with saying someone is ” not bad looking ” without national uproar. To me the passing of the note to a journalist is a bigger crime, one akin to telling tales in the schoolyard.
Day 2 and it’s still news ?? It was a note passed between two people , it’s a fuss about nothing . all he said was that the woman was not bad looking .. It’s not a crime !
Canvassing for State appointments is actually against the Law !
@joanie He us corrupt and a s&@€b&g . Not fit to be in givernment. Who cares that he said a woman wasn’t bad, anyone else with his reputation would keep their head down and shut up not him though
Transparency is the new low? Much better back in the day when the ‘ol boys could say what they want about the ladies without fear of derision from a politically correct meeja gone mad with liberalism
It was a private note between two people so who cares. If he said she has big b@@bs or fine a$$ it would be different. It was a compliment and thats it.
It was canvassing for a State appointment
the description of what she looked like is not the real story here !
Let’s say Enda had appointed her to the board and the note came out afterwards – then we wouldn’t be discussing the “bad looking ” comment but a different “bad looking ” altogether !
She’s a fox. Id lend her one. If I wasn’t married I mean. Ahem.
With all the who ha over this note will have to educate myself about this lady. Her qualifications her experience and of course how good looking she is. After I have conducted my in depth research I will decide if I am to be outraged or not. If she ticks all 3 boxes give her the job!!! Seriously though he has done a million times worse things and brazened them out. Can’t see him losing too much sleep. It’s like being back in school passing notes around. That’s the most worrying thing. A storm in a tea cup in the grand scheme of things and he knows it
The biggest eejits are the voters that keep re electing cowboys like Lowry
Him being a chauvinist of course is perfectly acceptable-seriously with idiots like this being elected is it any wonder the country is in the state it is!
In fairness….
She does have a lovely arse!
For feck sake she is a good looking woman ! Get over it !
The sad thing is the people that believe him,’god love them,
Michael Lowry. Politics begins low, it’s up to the man or woman who prefers to follow this profession to raise their ambitions and to convince their voters that they are a little higher than low, it’s not easy. Most politicians fail to do this but after a while can pull it off. You can’t.
“Malicious intent” versus corruption…Ireland a great little country to do corruption in.
The women in North Tipp luvs him…
Yes Michael, of course they did it to tarnish your unblemished pristine reputation.
The corrupt fighting with the corrupt, a pox on both their houses.
It seems to me that Mr Lowery knew exactly what he was doing. He knew what would go down well with Mr Kenny, he phrased his note in that way because he knew it would be appealing. Why would he think it was ok to word a request like that at a Dail session? There is an undercurrent of sleaze in this whole affair that is not right, regardless of politics. Would anyone like their daughter, sister or mother to be sold in such a way? It this what the leaders and peers of our country really of our women, sure if nothing else she’ll be good to look at! Get real people!
I would…….
More incensed that he can pass notes like a schoolboy to Einda and get away with his sexist remarks!! Why would Einda entertain any of his ideas? Aw because he is a friend of Denis the Menace and Einda needs to help both of his goody buddies out. Grrrrrrrrr
Journalists, it doesn’t matter what you throw at Lowry; sexism, grand fraud, war crimes, regicide, it just doesn’t matter. The people of N Tipp will always vote for him because he fixed the road.
Labour leaked the note with malicious intent you have got to be, jokeing labour wouldent even tell a lie, and as reguards to your one been good looking they are all the same in the dark
…..23 years .
A new low from Lowry is this guy trying to be funny ??
The people of Tip should be proud having consistently stood by Lowry by supporting him at election time. Ya Lowry its the other guys fault, poor you !
The people of Tip must be very proud of Lowry as they consistently re elect him and speak out in support of him….. With Lowry he’s always the victim. They knew i what i am like and were waiting for me to slip up so they could get me. – GO LOWRY PLEASE.
Is this what the leaders and peers of our country think of our women?
Lets have a tribunal
Surely cctv would reveal who the rat is..
Who is judge Seamus Noonan .?
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