Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That goes to the core of it. I know Mr. Kissane wants to come in. We put this to the Central Bank and it is now going to start a process of engagement with the vulture funds. It is quite late in the day but we would welcome any engagement. If we talk about the existing laws, the consumer protection code states very clearly that firms must act honestly, fairly – which is the word Mr. Hall used in that it is not happening – in the best interest of the customers and the integrity of the market. It goes on to state that where a borrower is experiencing repayment difficulty, a regulated entity must explore all of the options for alternative repayment arrangements offered by the entity. We have countless examples that that does not happen, and not only that it does not happen, but these firms are not engaging with individuals. Do the witnesses have any experience with that?

I believe that some are operating in the Central Bank and Government under the illusion that this is all working perfectly and if a person falls into arrears, that person will get all these different supports from the vultures. Perhaps we are only hearing of the hard cases, but we are getting case after case saying that they are stuck, trapped, prisoners, not getting engagement and that they are absolutely being fleeced. Some of them did absolutely nothing wrong and never missed a single cent on their mortgage repayments from the day they took it out.