Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I want to know what the ask is here. Our view is that the vulture funds should just be given six months to get out of Ireland completely. They should be forced to transfer their loans to the banks and interest rates should be capped at 3%. That is our policy. I would be interested to hear the responses of Mr. Byrne or Ms Irwin on this. When we put it to the Government, as we have done since interest rates have gone up, we have been told that it is not realistic and that we cannot do it. Perhaps the witnesses can comment on whether it would solve their problem if their loans were handed back to the proper banks and their interest rates were capped at 3%. Maybe Mr. Hall could answer the more technical question of whether or not that is practical. I certainly see it as practical. We know the banks are making a fortune. Perhaps Mr. Hall could comment on what these investment funds are making or what he thinks they are making. We certainly think they got these loans at massive discounts, so they made a big profit on what they got them at and now they are charging exorbitant interest rates in respect of them. I have not even heard whether they have given justifications for charging these extortionate interest rates and the reasons they claim they have for charging interest rates to that degree. Is it just pure profiteering? That is what I think it is. The behaviour of vulture funds looks like pure profiteering and greed. Because they are allowed to get away with it, they do get away with it. They do not really care about the consequences for people like Mr. Byrne, Ms Irwin and many others. Is that a crude analysis? That is the way it looks to me.