As we know, authorised push payment fraud occurs when a fraudster tricks somebody into making a payment to a bank account that the fraudster controls. An individual could see a holiday on a website and purchase it for thousands of euro only to find out that he or she has been the victim of a scam or an individual may enter a dating relationship through an online dating app and transfer money to help someone with a medical cost only to discover that he or she has been the victim of a romance scam. Authorised push pa…

We need to address APP fraud and start with protecting victims and putting more pressure on banks and payment providers to improve their systems. Requiring compensation to victims would do both. I have been in contact with an individual who was a victim of APP fraud. Payments were made through a bank in Britain and a bank in this State, and while she was compensated by the British bank, she received no compensation from the Irish bank. It was the same scam but it involved two different banks in two different jurisd…

It has become apparent that the retail banks sold to vulture funds thousands of mortgages that were overcharged through the tracker mortgage scandal. Hundreds of these tracker mortgage accounts were sold prior to them receiving remediation through the tracker mortgage examination. The principles of the tracker mortgage examination were very clear. These mortgage holders, having been overcharged by the banks, are now trapped with vulture funds with no option to fix interest rates and no ability to switch. They are i…

Figures requested from the retail banks and sent to the Oireachtas finance committee showed that Bank of Ireland, AIB, KBC, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank sold 2,315 tracker mortgage accounts which they had overcharged to vulture funds, and nearly 400 of these were sold before they were identified or remediated, either through the tracker mortgage examination or on foot of an FSPO decision. The Central Bank has subsequently informed me that 6,000 tracker mortgage accounts impacted by the tracker mortgage examination…

I welcome that. Let me be clear that I discussed this with the Central Bank in my recent meeting with it. These individuals, because they have now been identified as being in scope as part of the tracker mortgage examination, have eventually been remediated. However, the point is that, at a point in time, before they were identified and before they had the money restored to them following the overcharging that was taking place and the compensation, they were sold on to a vulture. At that time, some could have argue…

They cannot fix. That is the problem.

I appreciate that.

This comes back to the question that was addressed earlier by Deputies Rose Conway-Walsh and Alan Dillon in regard to the 9% VAT rate. I raised this issue with the Minister on 24 January last. During that discussion, I asked if the Department had undertaken an economic impact assessment regarding the consequences should the rate reduction be extended or the prior rate be reinstated. The Minister told me that analysis was being carried out. Will he commit to publishing that analysis?

I have received the parliamentary question responses in regard to the assessment. That is very important because there has been a wide public debate in this regard. It is a good debate and it needs to be an informed debate, including in regard to the Department's analysis on whether to extend or continue with the rate. Whether 9% is the appropriate rate for the sector is another question that should be teased out and the cost implications of that need to be taken on board. Consequently, the publication of the asses…

To clarify, will that occur regardless of the rate of inflation at that point in time? When the Minister selects 1 September for a tax rate to go up it is an appropriate time because the Dáil is in recess. The Dáil is in recess for a number of weeks before and after that date as well and that sometimes creates a little bit of pressure. Is the Minister saying the decision is permanent regardless of the inflationary environment? The last time it was restored it was also said that was permanent. I assume the Departmen…

Yesterday, a terrible fire broke out at Wexford General Hospital, which has led to the evacuation of more than 200 patients. Our thoughts this morning are with the people of Wexford. I commend everybody involved in the emergency response. In particular, I commend the Wexford fire brigade, all of our front-line healthcare workers, those in the ambulance service in the hospital and nearby hospitals and all of those who responded to the tragedy yesterday. The priority now must be to support patients, their families an…

It is at times like these that we recognise the value of the emergency services. I saw it myself, standing at the lines in Creeslough where people were rushing in to a building that could collapse and, again, yesterday evening, as people risked their own lives to make sure that other lives were saved. Thankfully, we are standing here today with a plan that was executed without fault in relation to the safety of patients. That needs to be our focus in the time ahead. We are conscious that this is still, as the Tánai…

Can we have time next week?

Yesterday my colleague Deputy Guirke raised the case of Kitty, who is from Trim in County Meath. I am sure the Tánaiste has heard her story. She is over 100 years old and received an electricity bill of almost €1,000 for the past two months. Like so many others, Kitty is being absolutely fleeced. Yesterday I received an email from a woman named Christina who works part-time. She earns approximately €250 week in the best of weeks. Her bill has increased and increased. She sent a message saying she could not cope and…

On behalf of Kitty, Christina and many like them, I ask the Tánaiste to change course and provide support for these families with regard to their electricity bills.

What should Kitty do? Should she turn off the lights or not do the washing?

It is €1,000.

The two amendments are related. We are only discussing amendment No. 1.

I will only make one contribution because the amendments stem from the same issue, namely the Supreme Court decision in the Zalewski case. The drafting of the Bill was undertaken to incorporate a more fair and transparent procedure following the decision of the Supreme Court. The Bill makes changes to the administrative sanction procedure to ensure it conforms. Changes made to incorporate these standards in light of the decision in that case involve the separation of functions during a Central Bank inquiry so that …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an díospóireacht seo. I welcome the opportunity to speak on behalf of Sinn Féin with respect to the Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022. At the outset, I commend the hard work that has been sustained over many years of the credit union movement to advance reforms that will allow our credit union sector to grow. We all know in this House and further afield that credit unions are trusted. They understand what makes and strengthens communities. The credit union movement has a long and proud history …