It is billed as the biggest consumer banking scandal in the history of the State, leaving some of its victims facing financial ruin, ongoing health problems – and in some cases on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Ireland’s Tracker mortgage scandal would ultimately cost the banks over €1 billion in fines and redress to more than 40,000 affected customers and their families.
Yet less than twenty years ago, while many of their customers were being incorrectly taken off their valuable Tracker mortgages, the Government pumped €64 billion of taxpayers’ cash into many of these same banks to stop them from collapsing.
For the first time on Irish television, “Trackers: The People V The Banks” goes behind the headlines to tell the full story of the Tracker mortgages scandal through the eyes of the customers most affected, as well as a small band of people who helped them fight back against the banks.
It critically examines the actions of banks and regulators alike and asks if more could have been done to stop the huge harm done to individuals and families across the State.
With cases still tied up in the courts and the Financial Ombudsman-is this scandal really over?
And how can the state ensure the banks are never again in a position to repeat the mistakes of the past where the lives of ordinary mortgage holders have been decimated with the flick of a pen?
