Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I appreciate the work of the secretariat in ensuring the witnesses who were before this committee were included in the scrutiny report, because it is not our words, but those of the witnesses who came before us, that make up the scrutiny. The first draft contained only the views of the Department and the Central Bank, so I welcome the efforts to ensure the witnesses' core sentiments were captured in the report.

The point the Chairman made is a valid one. There was agreement and unanimity that the report would be circulated and that we would agree amendments on Monday. I can understand where Deputy Michael McGrath is coming from. I naively thought that there was a majority view in this committee that sales to vulture funds should not happen without the consent of borrowers. However, I now see clearly that Deputy McGrath's amendment is about scuttling this Bill. That is what it is. Let us call it as it is. It is about scuttling this Bill and ensuring it does not go through. If the Deputy does not support the principle of no consent, no sale he should say it outright, because the amendment he has placed before this committee is about making sure that this Bill never sees the light of day. It is a stalling tactic. He knows the clock is ticking for this year and he also knows, as do other members of the committee, that banks are lining up many vulture sales of family homes. They are looking to us to act, and I am very disappointed. I was probably naive in thinking, when the principles of this Bill were supported by the majority of the Dáil on Second Stage, that politicians would see that through and allow it to go to Committee Stage where appropriate amendments to address any concerns could be tabled if need be.