Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is not that simple. I built my house during that period. The various procedures were adhered to and there was insurance cover during and after construction and in relation to the payment of the various stages, etc. There had to be strict compliance and a sign-off by the engineer in charge of the site. It was very strict and you did not get the cheque unless that happened. A lot of things happened afterwards that certainly did not carry any approval. I will come back to this at a later stage and will watch it carefully. There are still questions to be answered.

I would like to speak for a minute about the impaired mortgages that have been and are being sold on. I understand the reasons for them to be sold on. However, it appears to me that they are being sold on to be washed out and handed back to the market again. That is the summation of what is happening by an innocent bystander. Like everybody else on this side of the table, I have been involved in chasing people who had what were called impaired mortgages. We were trying to engage with the lending agencies, such as banks, building societies, etc., in the first instance, with the view to achieving something that was within the capacity of the borrower to manage and meet. At the same time, this process was to look forward to the end of the day when there might be a breakout of that cloud and the person would be able to pay a higher rate. I can assure the Cathaoirleach that I, and several others in this room including the Cathaoirleach's good self, followed every possible option that could be followed. We pursued every single possibility, such as warehousing of parts of a mortgage, payment and continued payment. This included continued payment all the time on the premise that this would save the customer in some way, shape or form. These were always rejected on the basis that it was not sustainable. Why was that the case? It was according to the criteria that were applied by the bank or banks as the case may be. That was easy for them to do, because in a three-card trick, if you have control of two of the boxes, the next one will follow.

At this stage, how many of the sold-off impaired mortgages have come back onto the market again? How many of them have been sold on to other financial entities? Did they transfer with a reduction for the purchaser? Has it happened in every case?