Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Sometimes the market structure in Ireland is the elephant in the room in that we talk so much about everything else. Mario Draghi said in 2018, I think, that the mortgage market in Ireland operates as a de facto monopoly. That was the language he used. There is no doubt but that a de facto monopoly hurts consumers significantly. That is the nature of monopolies.

I will change tack. It has been reported to me by a number of people that there seems to be an upsurge in receivers disposing of distressed properties. These are people who are in a distressed situation with their banks. They have a property, a business, a farm, etc. They are finding almost after the fact that their property or farm has been sold to a vulture fund or some other kind of fund and that the value that has been achieved in the sale is far less than what was offered in negotiations between the individual and the bank itself.

Is it not the responsibility of the receiver to achieve the best possible price for the property in that scenario? Has the Central Bank analysed the volume of transactions and values achieved in those sales? The data would help us decide if a major problem is happening all of a sudden.