Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is unfair to the mortgage holders to be raising unreal fears. We should not do it. People have different objectives. I am prepared to back the mortgage holders and work towards a solution. I said it was complicated and that my officials are in talks with the Central Bank and the Attorney General's office on the best possible solution. The liquidator must get the best return possible for the creditors of IBRC. That is the legal position. If I were to intervene in the middle of the sale and attach additional conditions to the loan books, that would potentially diminish the value of the loan books. It would also leave us open to being sued in the courts. We should first wait to see who purchases the loan books. If NAMA purchases them - and it is more likely to purchase performing mortgages rather than non-performing ones - there will be no problem with that set of mortgages. If an unregulated institution purchases them we will review the situation, including through the liquidator, reinforced by me, asking that that party do what other private sector mortgage purchasers have done in the past and apply the full code voluntarily. We will be looking for that commitment. If that does not happen, other work, such as Deputy McGrath's proposed solution, will come into play.

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