Section 01
The Scandal and Regulatory Findings
The tracker-mortgage scandal is a sector wide issue that has bedevilled Irish banking, triggering significant harm and financial loss to thousands of customers. As the bank that caused the greatest number of homes to be lost and the largest number of harmed customers, Bank of Ireland received a record fine of over €100 million.
This site documents the leading role of Bank of Ireland in the most significant consumer-protection failure in Irish history, including the continued loss of family homes as a result of Bank of Ireland mortgage overcharging and incorrect mortgage redemption figures.
This site brings together many of the human stories, regulatory findings, leadership problems and unresolved issues surrounding Bank of Ireland's failings in the tracker mortgage scandal. It outlines what happened and why some families are still dealing with the consequences of Bank of Ireland's continued refusal to ensure adequate redress.
It also considers the reputational damage Bank of Ireland suffers due to widely reported staff comments denigrating some of those who fought for justice for the bank's customers. In the context of recent cases of lost homes, it highlights current leadership failures at Bank of Ireland.
It concludes with timely consumer advice to anyone considering a mortgage with Bank of Ireland and what steps to take to avoid a possible recurrence of the harm and losses suffered by others, including the possible loss of their home.
The Scandal
A story of banking failure
What began as unclear documentation and misinterpreted mortgage terms evolved, over two decades, into a cascade of decisions and omissions by Bank of Ireland that continues to upend the lives of thousands of customers. Families were pushed into financial stress. Tragically, some lost homes they should never have lost. Many carried widely reported health and emotional burdens due to errors and poor decision making in Bank of Ireland that went unaddressed for years. In some cases the harm and loss of homes continues.
Without the intervention of a small number of individuals, such behaviour at both Bank of Ireland and across the wider sector could have been far worse. Financial adviser Padraic Kissane was the first to flag the poor behaviour of the banks. Others including journalist Charlie Weston and former Chair of the Oireachtas Finance Committee, John McGuinness TD, were instrumental in driving public awareness of the industry wide scandal which has been likened to the Post Office scandal in the UK.
Bank of Ireland hit with record fine
The Central Bank of Ireland eventually intervened with its largest ever consumer-protection fine. In the biggest case, that of Bank of Ireland, its investigation revealed a bank that issued confusing documents, interpreted ambiguity in its own favour, and persistently failed to protect customers as harm accumulated. Bank of Ireland ultimately admitted eighty-one regulatory breaches affecting almost sixteen thousand accounts. These failings are systemic, persistent, and deeply damaging.
Even now, years after the first enforcement action, some customers have been compelled to bring their cases to the courts because of the bank's continued poor behaviour. These include marital failure as a result of financial harm, serious health impacts, financial loss, damage to small businesses, credit issues, underfunded pensions, and disturbingly, the continued avoidable loss of family homes.
These cases raise serious questions about the present leadership and governance of Bank of Ireland under CEO Myles O' Grady. In one case, the CEO was personally alerted to the underlying mortgage overcharge and litany of harmful issues well before the property was sold.
Despite this, he chose to deny the problem, and the property and a small business were subsequently lost as a direct result of threats to repossess the home - despite Bank of Ireland overcharging the customer at the time. Serious questions for the CEO and Bank of Ireland board about the mortgage and the correct redemption figure remain unresolved.
The documented handling of this case asks serious questions of Myles O’ Grady and his leadership team: what were they told, what action did they take, and why is the harm continuing?
This site examines the gap between the public commitments of Bank of Ireland and the reality faced by some of its customers. It seeks to preserve a clear, accessible record of what is, in some cases, continued poor behaviour to ensure that the harm is neither forgotten nor dismissed.
And it considers the governance failures that for some impacted customers remain a feature of Bank of Ireland's leadership today
Continuing cultural problems
It also highlights the widely reported and continued cultural problems at Bank of Ireland. In particular, it records the hugely negative comments made by Bank of Ireland staff about those who advocated for consumers faced with systemic harm. As recently as January 2026, Bank of Ireland was forced to issue a public apology and agreed an out-of-court settlement when the case was listed for a potentially highly damaging High Court hearing.
By setting out the facts in a clear and comprehensive way, this site supports customers, policymakers and the public in understanding such failures and why the harm continues. In particular, it serves as a timely reminder for Bank of Ireland personal and business customers and mortgage applicants of how Bank of Ireland treats those forced to fight for fair and reasonable redress as a result of the bank's failures.
Moreover, it shows that even in the face of documented systemic failure and the direction of the Central Bank of Ireland to ‘Stop The Harm’, the Board of Bank of Ireland will take refuge in legal process to avoid doing the right thing, causing protracted severe harm to some of its customers.
Regulatory Findings
The Central Bank of Ireland's investigation into Bank of Ireland revealed a long sequence of failures that were neither incidental nor isolated. They formed a pattern that allowed harm to deepen for years before it was acknowledged. When the investigation concluded, the regulator issued the largest consumer-protection fine in Irish history and confirmed that nearly sixteen thousand customers had been affected.
Bank of Ireland admitted eighty-one regulatory breaches. Such findings explained why customers endured years of overcharging, anxiety, and, in some cases, the loss of their homes.
Persistent failings
A central failing lay in the bank's own paperwork. The Central Bank found that Bank of Ireland issued mortgage documentation that was unclear, contradictory or incomplete. Customers were led to believe that certain decisions such as entering a fixed rate were temporary arrangements, when the bank would later interpret them as permanent forfeitures of tracker rights. Many customers believed they could return to their tracker after a fixed period. Others did not realise that breaking a fixed rate or restructuring a loan could have life-long consequences. The regulator concluded that ambiguity in these documents contributed directly to customer harm.
Suiting itself
Rather than address uncertainty in a way that protected borrowers, the bank routinely adopted interpretations that strengthened its own position. This pattern became a defining theme of the investigation. The regulator stated that Bank of Ireland “knew or ought to have known” that its documentation was unclear yet continued to use narrow readings that denied customers their entitlements. These decisions had real consequences as families paid overcharged interest for years. Savings were depleted and homes were sold under pressure that should never have existed.
Unfair practices
The review also exposed serious weaknesses in how Bank of Ireland handled complaints. As noted, customers who pushed their cases, sometimes repeatedly, were more likely to have their entitlements reconsidered. Others, with identical documentation, were left on the wrong rates because they accepted the bank’s initial explanation. The Central Bank described this pattern as an “unfair complaints handling practice.” This had lasting consequences as those who trusted the bank’s first response often endured the greatest harm, and some are still seeking recognition today.
Bank of Ireland failures
Another critical issue was the bank’s failure to identify the full range of affected customers. The most prominent example was the group known as the “disputed cohorts,” comprising more than five thousand borrowers whom the bank initially insisted were not impacted. The Central Bank strongly challenged this assessment. Only after sustained regulatory pressure did Bank of Ireland expand its review, by which time many customers had continued paying incorrect rates for years. Some had already lost homes while others struggled through ongoing financial strain.
Systemic shortcomings also contributed to the scale of the problem. Internal controls failed to detect errors and systems were not equipped to identify customers who should have been on trackers or to flag inappropriate rate assignments. While customers were struggling, Bank of Ireland insisted its processes were working. The regulator’s findings demonstrated that they were not and had not been for some time. These weaknesses were not simply historical issues, they impacted customer outcomes even when the Examination was underway.
Irreversible harm
The Central Bank’s “Stop the Harm” principle required banks to halt ongoing damage the moment they became aware of it. As the record shows, Bank of Ireland still does not meet that standard. Customers remained on incorrect rates even after evidence emerged internally that errors had occurred. Redress and restoration were delayed. In cases where homes were lost, the harm became irreversible long before the bank acknowledged its mistake. The regulator’s language made clear that many of these losses could and should have been prevented had the bank acted sooner.
These findings tell a story of structural weakness, institutional defensiveness and missed opportunities to prevent harm. They also explain why some customers are still seeking answers of a Board and its Non-executive Directors who seem to some to be resolutely opposed to complying with Central Bank of Ireland directives to “Stop the Harm." The investigation did not merely document what went wrong in the past; it exposed the causes of the hardship that continues to impact the lives of those affected.
Contact
You Deserve to Be Heard
If you have relevant information or experience relating to Bank of Ireland tracker mortgage issues, you can contact us at: contact@bankofirelandmortgagefailings.org
Sources
This website is based on publicly available sources, including the Central Bank of Ireland's Tracker Mortgage Examination (launched in 2015) and its 2022 enforcement action against Bank of Ireland under the Administrative Sanctions Procedure. It also draws on published decisions of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO), including tracker mortgage determinations issued in the years following the Examination. Additional material includes that drawn from publicly listed High Court proceedings and reporting by established Irish media organisations, including RTÉ, in particular the 2025 documentary Trackers: The People v The Banks, The Irish Times, The Business Post and the Irish Independent, together with personal testimony, publicly available statements and annual reports issued by Bank of Ireland and hearings of the Oireachtas Finance Committee. This website is provided for general information and public-interest purposes only. It does not provide financial, legal or mortgage advice. Anyone making decisions about their mortgage or finances should seek advice from an appropriately qualified independent professional.