Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for appearing before us and for facilitating us to appear together. I will be brief because, unfortunately, I have another scheduled event. I am interested in some of the commentary here, particularly with regard to vulture funds. Mr. Burgess said that every opportunity is being provided to these borrowers before the banks act the heavy, in Mr. Burgess's own words. He refers to himself as a consumer advocate. Obviously, these individuals about whom we are talking were consumers of a certain product. Is it not the case that his position is that the banks cannot repossess these houses so let us send them to the vultures and they will do the job for them? He also made the point that these individuals are likely to pay in respect of social housing so where does he expect these individuals to reside after the vultures put them out of their houses? Is this not greater than an issue of pure raw capitalism? Do we not have a duty as a society to provide housing and shelter to individuals and try to find solutions?