Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 3, after line 31, to insert the following:
“(2) All assets transferred under this section shall continue to be burdened with the legal protections attached to them through the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears and the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act 2004 and shall not be transferred to any entity where these legal protections are not present.”.

The purpose of the amendment is straightforward. It is to ensure that the €1 billion in loans at ICS, which is the only building society currently in the country, that are potentially to be sold are not sold to a vulture fund, except in circumstances that are not identical to those affecting the sale of the loan book of IBRC. Nevertheless, we should copper-fasten the need for these loans to be protected. We are open to any legal clarity that can be added to the amendment but we insist that the spirit of its implementation be retained in the Bill. We are told legislation is being drafted to deal with this issue in a general way and if that is happening, we welcome it.
We recognise also that the Government had allowed Deputy McGrath's Bill on this issue to pass to Committee Stage. All of that is to be welcomed but in the here and now we are talking about €1 billion of mortgages that could be sold as soon as this Bill is passed and as of now, we do not have any guarantee that we will not have another IBRC type situation. We specifically mention the code of conduct on mortgage arrears, the legal status of which FLAC has called into question or at least the enforceability of that code. I would appreciate the Minister, Deputy Noonan, replying to me on the code's legal status and the enforceability of the code of conduct on mortgage arrears.
We know there is a need for greater competition in the banking sector, particularly in the mortgage sector, and we are aware of the difficulties people are experiencing, but it is our hope that this change will help to bring that about. Does the Minister have any indication at this stage whether interested parties are looking to move in on the ICS loans?