Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is not here to answer the questions I am asking Ms Nolan as an official. If the Minister wants to come in and defend himself he is more than welcome. He was invited but he refused to appear before the committee. The Minister can do that. I am asking about the powers vested in him. Obviously the answer is right. Now we will go to the point Ms Nolan has raised. The issue that the Minister has raised in terms of the potential legal threat is, as Ms Nolan has stated on several occasions before this committee, that if one was to take an action in isolation - at no time have I suggested during this thread of conversation that we take an action in isolation.

To reiterate, what Ms Nolan has confirmed is that the Government's stated intention is to provide protection on a statutory basis to all mortgage holders, including the 13,000 in IBRC, that the Minister has the power to issue a directional order to the liquidators of IRBC to cease with the sale at this point in time. The Minister has the power to bring forward the legislation that he has already stated he intends to bring forward and if it is brought forward on a unilateral basis that does not specifically deal with this sale, then the issue of legal action is diminished or does not exist. If this is what we all want, why do we not do it? Instead of the Minister saying he will introduce legislation if they will not agree with this voluntary code, why not just issue a directional order to IBRC liquidators to stop the sale at this point in time? The sale was supposed to be complete by the end of last year but it is not. Stop the sale at this point in time. Let us bring forward the legislation. As one of the main parties in Opposition, I have offered to work with the Government and the Minister to bring forward legislation. Deputy Michael McGrath has put his suggestions forward in the form of legislation. If we are genuinely serious about not shafting the 13,000 mortgage holders why can we not take that course of action?