Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ms Nolan knows as well as I do the conditions of a contract of sale of a mortgage.

If anyone looks at their mortgage document and if that is the limit of their protection, it is apparent that it is skewed heavily in favour of the lender. Essentially, if one gets into any level of difficulty with a mortgage, it can be called in at any time. That is why a statutory code of conduct was put in place. It was to allow breathing space for a borrower, as well as putting an obligation on the bank to work with a customer to come up with solutions to be worked out over a period. To claim the new mortgage owner will step into the shoes of the bank and that the same conditions will apply is no comfort to that person with a mortgage.

If these funds do come into possession of these mortgages, have there been any discussions with them about interest rate policy? Another concern people have is that these funds are not subject to oversight in Ireland or do not come under any competitive pressures. Accordingly, the organisations involved could just jack up the interest rates.