Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance Pearse Doherty, in response to the announcement that AIB has made provision of a further €300 million to deal with tracker mortgage cases, has said: 

“I want to welcome the fact that the penny has finally dropped with AIB and that they have announced this morning that a further €300 million has been made available to provide redress to those affected by the tracker mortgage scandal following a preliminary decision by the Financial Services Ombudsman.

“Banks are still wronging their customers in respect of the tracker mortgage scandal and this is highlighted again today.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that customers who went through the independent appeals process refused to accept the decision of AIB and took their cases to the Financial Services Ombudsman, then this would not have happened so I want to commend those who have done so this morning.

“I also note that these cases would not have been able to be heard if it wasn’t for my legislation that we got passed into law that allowed for these cases to be heard and removed the six-year time limit.

“But what this really shows is that the banks are still resisting the need to be customer centric and that the culture hasn’t changed.

“The Central Bank, who signed off on this, have also failed to protect customers.

“I am calling on AIB to now clarify that they will settle with all of their affected customers and that they will do so in a speedily manner.

“The other banks involved need to immediately follow suit.

“It won’t be lost on people that Sinn Féin has consistently called on the government – as the majority shareholder in AIB – and a major shareholder in other banks to intervene on this issue. They have steadfastly refused to do so and have left it up to individuals to take their cases.”