Varadkar: Government has 'lost patience' with lenders over tracker mortgage scandal

Updated 13.55

The Taoiseach says the Government has lost all patience with lenders over the tracker mortgage scandal.

Leo Varadkar made the comment as he told the Dáil the Minister for Finance plans to "admonish" bank CEOs at meetings he has called next week.

Thousands of customers of several Irish lenders were overcharged or wrongly denied a tracker rate.

Around two dozen people are estimated to have lost ownership of their homes as a result of the scandal, with the number expected to rise.

Yesterday, the Central Bank revealed that around 13,000 accounts have been impacted by the tracker mortgage scandal - an increase of 3,100 compared to the financial regulator's last report in March.

The financial regulator has raised concerns that two lenders may not have identified all affected customers - suggesting that the number of impacted people is also likely to increase.

The Central Bank review has been ongoing for almost two years, and has so far found that compensation has been provided to around 3,300 affected customers.

Leo Varadkar says it has taken too long for justice to be done.

He told TDs: "It's our view that people affected should have had their tracker mortgages restored, and should have been fully compensated by now. As a Government we've lost patience."

Meanwhile, Financial Services Ombudsman Ger Deering is urging those who were moved off trackers to work through the ongoing process.

He observed: "I do appreciate that it is taking time and that it is frustrating and very difficult for people. But the best [and fastest] way of getting an outcome to this is to work through the Central Bank process.

"If at that stage they're not happy with has come out of that process, then they can come to us with a complaint."