John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is my intention to propose a strategy to committee members to question or investigate such issues as have been raised. I am flagging this for the witnesses because I am not going to stand by and be unhappy about a situation. The State must do something.

Regarding the Central Bank and vulture funds, the witnesses are aware that we wrote to the vulture funds. Two responded - Blackstone and Cerberus - to say that they would not attend. Most of these funds are playing a significant role in the economy and their tactics in buying and recouping debt leaves much to be desired. They are unregulated, they will not appear before us and they affect the lives of people in their businesses and homes. According to the banks that appeared before us, we will probably see a large number of houses being repossessed in 2017. Those loans that have been sold on and are now within the grasp of vulture funds have no chance. I want to address the issue of the vulture funds, how they are regulated and the role of the Central Bank.

When the Central Bank appeared before us, its role in and attitude towards consumer protection were shocking. One hundred people lost their homes because of the tracker mortgage issue. It is being dealt with now, but where was the Central Bank beforehand? What happened down through the years? Where was the Department of Finance in terms of ensuring that the Central Bank did what it was supposed to do, namely, protect the consumer and deal with the banks?