Central Bank boss: 'Unacceptable' that so many had tracker mortgages removed

Tue, 20 Dec, 2016 - 09:04

Update 12 noon: The head of the Central Bank has been accused of being bullied by banks and of failing to act and stop lenders wrongly forcing customers onto more costly mortgage agreements, writes Juno McEnroe, Political Correspondent.

Update 11.40am: The head of the Central Bank Philip Lane has hit out at banks for taking too many customers off tracker mortgages.

Mr Lane told the Oireachtas Finance Committee that it was "absolutely unacceptable" that so many customers were taken off their cheaper tracker rates.

He promised the Central Bank would take full action against any lender who switched a borrower's rate unfairly, but that the process would take time.

"There have been too many cases where is turns out there was a mis-application," he said.

"This is absolutely unacceptable and it is the reason why we decided a broader examination of tracker-related issues was warranted."

Earlier:

The head of the Central Bank Philip Lane is facing questions about the state of the sector in Ireland this morning.

The Oireachtas Finance Committee is likely to grill him on issues including supports for those in mortgage arrears and overcharging.

It comes a day after the Central Bank issued an update on their tracker mortgage examination, covering 15 lenders.

The examination has so far identified 8,200 people who were wrongly denied a tracker rate, but the number is expected to rise by the time the examination finishes in the middle of next year.