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

I apologise for interrupting Mr. McDonald, but a vote has been called in the Dáil, which means Deputy Michael McGrath and I must leave the meeting.

This morning the Departments of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and Justice and Equality commented on unregulated and unaccountable receivers and what was said has been borne out by what Mr. McDonald has told us. We have said time and again that vulture funds are aggressive and should be stopped in their tracks. We have raised the need for a political response from these Houses, but the response seems to be slow in coming. Legislation needs to be put in place, but it is almost as if the political system is in paralysis and in fear of bringing forward the type of legislation that is necessary and often spoken about by the Master of the High Court.

We have a number of players before us this morning. The IFA is a highly respected organisation and is one of the last men standing, as it were, that has a huge commitment from its members. It is well used to campaigning, as is ISME. It is an astonishing that Mr. McDonnell indicated in his opening statement that ISME had been prevented from making an appropriate presentation to the committee. That underlines how bad the vulture funds are. ISME is an organisation that is well rooted in the world of commerce in this country.

Mr. Kissane mentioned Mr. David Hall a number of times in his contribution. Mr. Hall could not be present for personal reasons.