Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for giving up their time to come before the committee. Theirs is a young office that was only established in 2018 and they have been busy. Mr. Sloyan mentioned in his opening statement that the FSPO can direct compensation of up to €500,000. I do not think people are aware of that. I note the FSPO has strong powers, as it should. I am especially interested in insurance because there seems to be a free run in respect of public liability insurance. A delegation of Irish motorbike racers was in the audiovisual room a couple of weeks ago. They are struggling to get insurance quotes. It seems to be very unfair. Insurance companies seem to pick and choose. The difference between the rates down South and up North is bonkers. Insurance for a community circus in Northern Ireland was €6,079. In the Republic of Ireland, it was €39,100 for what I assume was the same insurance.

I was interested by what was said about insurance in respect of Covid-19 in 2022 and how successful the FSPO was in that regard. Mr. Sloyan also spoke about cases not going all the way to the FSPO if mediation can be used to resolve issues quickly. How are the banking organisations reacting to the FSPO? I suspect the FSPO will get a lot busier. Mr. Sloyan said that of the complaints the FSPO received at a very early stage during the registration and assessment process, 82% were resolved in 2022. That is a significant achievement because there must be resistance there from financial institutions or insurance companies. How is the FSPO finding that engagement? The office came out of the traps fast and has very strong powers. Perhaps those institutions do not want bad publicity so tend to resolve matters.

A bugbear of mine that I am hearing about in my office, as I am sure others are, is the issue of vulture funds. Whether they had permission or not, banks have sold people's mortgages. The vulture funds will not engage. Let us consider a hypothetical scenario in which somebody has two properties and one falls into arrears through no fault of their own. The vulture fund comes in and offer €5,000 but states it will take the two homes because the person in question has failed to repay a loan secured on the first home. How can the FSPO go after the likes of those funds? That is aggressive, nasty and low engagement with the owners of properties. The solution the vulture funds are coming up with is to offer €5,000, tell people to like it or lump it and take the properties, one way or the other. Can the FSPO go after vulture funds?