Sir, – Lest anyone underestimate the ferocity of the Government’s determination, once and for all, to sweep away the culture of impunity enjoyed by white collar criminals in this State, they sent out not one, but four, senior ministers to announce plans for a tough new regulatory regime.
But then to spoil it all, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe threatened to remove directors from bank boards if they don’t deliver on commitments to resolve the tracker mortgage scandal.
In other words, so long as they give people back their own money and compensate them for all kinds of associated suffering the directors and senior executives can remain in their jobs without punitive sanctions imposed either on any individual or the bank they represent. They can walk away with their reputations for “fitness and probity” intact and the slate wiped clean.
It is hard to have confidence in promises of a new regime when one of the most serious cases of unethical, if not illegal, behaviour in the banking sector over the past 20 years is handled with kid gloves. – Yours, etc,
EDDIE MOLLOY,
Rathgar, Dublin 6.