The infamous American bank robber, Willie Sutton, once said: "You can't rob a bank on charm and personality." What the Irish banks have proven, however, is that one can indeed rob the people on charm and personality. I am referring to the latest example of our predatory banks' behaviour with respect to tracker mortgages. I believe it is important that we speak about this not only because of the obvious need to give redress to the victims of the institutional scam that has unfolded, but also because it is episodes like this that reveal where the real centre of power lies in this country, unfortunately. We in here might like to think that the Oireachtas and this House is where the authority resides but, sadly, we are being shown every day that this is not true and that it does not reside here at all. When scandals like this happen, those who are really in control are fully revealed, and we know who they are.

The so-called pillar banks and others seem to have a free hand to do as they wish, when they wish, to whom they wish, and especially to the little people and the ordinary people. The attitude very much appears to be that if the people and families lose their homes, tough luck; if families unfortunately lost loved ones through suicide due to the stress of trying to meet mortgage repayments, that is their own tough luck.

If the children must endure the pain and suffering of seeing their parents tormented, demented and driven to bad health by the debt and the bullying of the banks, is this their own fault as well?

This is the kind of attitude that lies at the heart of our banking culture. It is rotten to the core and, worse, it appears that all regulatory attempts to get rid of it have utterly failed. The banks have done absolutely nothing to voluntarily disclose this latest fraud perpetrated upon tens of thousands of our people. Only when the glare of the public spotlight is forced upon them do they rush out with their pretence of sorrow. It is a small pretence. They know from experience that the best strategy is simply to ride it out and keep the head down. Soon the huffing and puffing and the tough talk of the Government will die down and it will be a return to business as usual. That is all we have seen so far but it will not and cannot ever be business as usual for the tens of thousands of families that have been affected.

I spoke with a couple yesterday that had no idea, until last Friday, that they had been swindled by their lender Ulster Bank. They had no idea. They received a letter last Friday from Ulster Bank telling them that, as a result of an internal review, the bank was now aware that it had been overcharging this couple between 2009 and 2015. Ulster Bank explained to the family that even though they had a tracker mortgage the bank had taken it from them and they had not been on the tracker for the past six years. They purchased their house in 2005 but were forced to sell it in 2015. Ulster Bank informed them that they had been overcharged by €40,000. The couple was offered €4,000 by way of redress. Is this the banks' own summary justice system in operation out there for robbing? Ned Kelly robbed from the rich to give to the poor. The Minister is allowing the banks to do this but there is no one to take it off the rich now. Does the Minister agree that the people of this country have been taken for absolute fools by the shadowy cabal of bankers who seem to lack even the slightest element of social conscience? Will the Minister agree that some of these people need to be brought to justice, tried, handcuffed, brought before the courts and sentenced to prison? A prison sentence would be too good for them as far as I am concerned. They should be out rebuilding the lives of the families they have destroyed.

Lest anybody be unaware of the extent and seriousness of this scandal, by the end of September €163 million had been provided back to 3,300 customers. By the end of this process we are talking about close to 30,000 customers who will be entitled to their money back and to redress. This will involve hundreds of millions of euro. This is money that was taken inappropriately from families right across the country, many of whom were put under huge pressure during that period. This is why people are rightly angered and they expect the Government and the Central Bank - independently of each other - to make sure the response is comprehensive.

The Central Bank is engaging with other statutory bodies on this tracker mortgage examination, including An Garda Síochána. They will take the appropriate action in respect of what has happened. I share the Deputy's anger and frustration. I assure him that the Minister for Finance was not mincing his words yesterday when he briefed the Cabinet on this issue. This is not going to be a case of grandstanding for a number of days. The Central Bank will need to see this through with regard to the probe it started back in 2015. The Government will insist on getting a comprehensive answer from the banks on this so we can bring the saga to an end, sooner rather than later, and ensure people get their money back, as well as the appropriate redress they are due.

I think that Oliver Callan will have a field day this weekend when he addresses the Minister's paltry answer. This has gone on for years. We see that the courts do not give protection to the families on these tracker mortgages either and the Central Bank is toothless, useless and totally fruitless. I suppose the banks brought some nice fruitcake in to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, when they came in yesterday for their nice little cosy chat. This is nonsense and a reply of total poppycock from the Government. The banks know that the previous Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan - and I wish him the best of health - just totally ignored it. The new Minister has been in place for some time - the Minister opposite has been in government for nearly seven years - and absolutely nothing has been done. The bankers are friends and supporters of the Government. Members of the Government play golf with them and cannot deny that. The Government will not hurt them at all. Were it to slap them, it would ask how hard it was slapping them in case they were hurt altogether; child protection laws and everything else.

The Minister has to act. Derision and the Taoiseach standing up to call it "shameful" is not enough. The Government must deal with the banks. There is no banking regulation in this country. They have run riot. We were all forced in here in September so many years ago to vote to save the banks but all we got back was the two fingers every time and to every customer. This is not the only robbery that is going on. We are used to seeing gardaí and couriers minding the cash but now the robbers are inside behind the counter. I do not mean the ordinary tellers but those who are deep in the board rooms. Where are the public service directors? They seem to have no function and if they are getting a salary, it is a shame. People are being robbed blind and it is time for the likes of Ned Kelly to resurrect himself for Tipperary. This is outrageous and the Government has shown the families no mercy. Notwithstanding the scale, the Government will do nothing other than to arrange a strong talk from the Minister. That will do nothing without serious action and legislation. If the banks are charged a levy, they will only pass it on to the customers. It is downright, naked fraud.

The first response to that particular contribution is to make a distinction about the thousands of people who work behind the counters-----

I did that.

-----in banks to deal with customers in difficult situations every day. They are not the people who should be the target of our ire here. It is senior decision-making in banks that is responsible for what happened in this scandal and that is why it is the most senior decision-makers in banks that the Minister for Finance met yesterday and will meet again today. He will make a comprehensive statement tomorrow on the back of those meetings and we expect as a Government that the banks will also make comprehensive statements before the end of the week in an effort to bring an end to the issue. If they do not, the Government will have to consider further how it will respond.

Show us the money and legislate.