Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I want to raise a slightly wider issue. Do the witnesses have any information on forced sales of farms by banks? I am referring to sales conducted by the farmers themselves at the behest of the banks or by receivers over the last four to five years, since the downturn. Many farms were given as collateral against loans. How prevalent has the forced sale of such farms been? What quantities are we talking about? Is it normally done by the old house trick of the person having a gun put to his or her head and told to sell or else the bank will sell at an lower price? How prevalent is that at the moment? Is it likely to become more prevalent in the next three years, for people who got into trouble four or five years ago?