Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply, but if I were one of these families I would be despairing at that answer. We do know what is going to happen. We know that none of the domestic banks will buy the loans. If NAMA buys them, if Apollo buys them or if some vulture fund in New York buys them, none of the potential buyers is covered by the Central Bank regulations. We know that to be the case, so a "wait and see" approach until after the contract has been signed is not good enough. I cannot imagine how frustrating it is to be one of the owners of these 14,000 mortgages around Ireland and to hear representatives of the Government say that we gave Irish Nationwide more than €5 billion in dead money to ensure every single one of the bondholders was covered. The Government stood over a €900 million bond payout 18 months ago for an unguaranteed bond that was bought in 2007, but when people are now asking to buy their own loans because they are terrified that some foreign firm will buy it, the answer from the Government is that it will let the special liquidator sell these mortgages for 90 cent or even 50 cent in the euro, but will not let the people buy their own loans because it is too complicated and too expensive.

This is potentially a win-win situation. There is no trade-off between getting the best price for the mortgage and helping these families, as well as the Irish domestic banking system and the general economy as a consequence. All these people are saying is that if the Government is going to sell their loans to those guys in New York for 90 cent in the euro or 50 cent in the euro, they would rather buy it for that price themselves. They can refinance it with AIB or by selling the property and getting out of negative equity. The point is that the State is already taking the hit, even though the Taoiseach has spoken about the value to the State. We are selling the loans at a discount. All these people want to do is buy it at a discount.

The Taoiseach and Government representatives have a mantra that everything in the mortgage world must be dealt with case by case basis. Why then, when it comes to helping potentially thousands of families, does that case-by-case principle no longer apply? This could be a win. Would the Taoiseach please at least take one more look and see if something can be worked out? The current solution will profit foreign vulture funds at the cost of Irish families.

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