Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

They finished up in the least affordable way forward because they wound up in a poorly regulated private rental sector or some of them became homeless. That is what actually happened. The Central Bank failed to intervene, or, if it did intervene, it may have actually added to the problem. It resulted in a situation in which those people who are still in their homes, when the loans have been sold to vulture funds, are paying 6.5% and 6.75% interest. We were told this morning by Mr. Makhlouf that the Central Bank does not have the power to cap it. Does the bank want the power to cap it? No, it does not. That is extraordinary. Who is going to protect those people, members of the public and mortgage holders? On one hand, there is one cohort whose mortgages were sold as part of a loan book sale to a vulture fund, and on the other, there are members of the public and householders who are still in their homes but are paying extortionate interest rates to vulture funds. I am trying to find out how we are going to protect these people. In fairness, Mr. Makhlouf stated that the bank is carrying out a review, I think, and examining what can be done. Will the witnesses clarify that before the end of the meeting? Will they provide an answer? How can we help these people with their housing needs, being able to make repayments and dealing with these issues? Surely, someone somewhere has the wherewithal to do something about this. I do not wish to misquote Mr. Makhlouf, but I think when he replied to one of the members, he said a review is being carried out and some actions may be taken. Will he clarify that?