Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Mr. Kincaid talked about switching and the waterfall in terms of the options available for the banks. Many of the people who are reaching out to me have been hard done by. They have been sold a pig in a poke by previous Governments and possibly by some of the commentary from the Central Bank. A total of 113,688 family homes have been sold to vulture funds. Government spokespersons have repeatedly told us not to worry about it because the same protections are there and all the rest of it. Lo and behold, these households are now paying interest rates of 7%. Next week another letter will land in people's letter boxes indicating the interest rate on their mortgage has gone up again to above 7%. As the Governor tells us, another letter is expected in March. These families are at breaking point.

A number of things are happening here. These people are paying thousands of euro more on their mortgages than they were this time last year or even last summer. Things will get worse for them. The vulture funds do not offer any options. The vulture funds will not even engage with these people. We hear from the Central Bank that there is an onus under the code of conduct on mortgage arrears, CCMA, and that lenders need to look at a suite of options for the individuals. However, if the suite of options does not exist, then it is paddle your own canoe. There are no fixed rates, split mortgages or debt warehousing for them. They cannot park this bit and pay that bit. There is no reduced interest rate for them. It is pony up or else. Many people have found themselves in this situation. We talk about the legal protections under the code of conduct on mortgage arrears. How does that apply to an individual who is trying to engage with the vulture fund and the vulture fund simply does not offer any of those?