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

My thanks to our three guests for their interesting opening statements and good engagement. In response to Mr. Burgess, were the funds to come in, they would get a fair hearing. They would get lots of questions, for sure, but would get every opportunity to set out their case in a factual manner. I do not think they are not coming in because they are afraid of being asked hard questions or a little bit of grandstanding. It is because they do not want to be accountable. They operate under the radar and public accountability is anathema to them. I do not think it is anything to with their concern about the committee grandstanding, as they would get a fair hearing. We have tried on several occasions, and the committee went through with the clerk in private session earlier on a schedule of correspondence to and from these funds and they refused to come in. Most of the credit servicing firms, who are regulated entities refused to come in as well. The Central Bank, whose representatives were in here last week, does not want to regulate the funds and yet they will not be held accountable by anybody. This is difficult to understand.

I will put a number of questions, starting with Dr. O'Hagan-Luff. Can she tell the committee about the international experience when these funds come in and buy distressed assets? How does this play out over a period of ten to 15 years? In her statement, Dr. O'Hagan-Luff states that they have a different business model, which is relatively short-term and looks for higher short-term returns, perhaps even over as short a period as two or three years. Given that the funds started coming in here in a very significant way with the NAMA disposals from 2012 to 2013 onwards, how will this play out? Will they close out those loans eventually by accepting full repayment and work out those loans over time? Will they foreclose and take the assets? Or will they sell them on? If they sell them on, what is the next layer, that is, who is buying the loans the second time around? Internationally, how does this play out over time?