Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What is happening is these mortgages are being sold off. I will take one particular example of a vulture fund buying a mortgage for less than €70,000 and then selling it for €170,000, so it made €100,000 straight off. The fees for the receiver and the legal fees take €35,000 from it. Then the vulture fund goes back to the mortgage holder and demands, as happened in one particular case, an extra €20,000 on top. What is difficult for me to understand is why this could not be negotiated with the mortgage holder in the first instance. KBC is facilitating vulture funds by the sell-off of these non-performing loans, or what it calls non-performing loans as in some cases they are split mortgages. I dispute the definition of non-performing loans. The fund is already making €100,000 out of it and it wants a further €20,000. There is unfairness built into this. Banks such as KBC are leaving mortgage holders to the mercy of vulture funds that not only charge them the receiver fees and legal fees and make a huge profit, but then go back for more. The definition of a vulture is to go back and pick the carcasses. What is happening is the carcasses of these vulnerable people about whom the witnesses spoke in their opening statement are being picked by vulture funds and it is having an enormous impact on the lives of the families with whom I am dealing.

That is why I am interested to know how many loans have been affected and the write-down that has been given to the vulture funds, most of which come under section 110 so they do not even have to pay tax on this.