Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille atá curtha i láthair na Dála anocht ag an Teachta Michael McGrath. Níl dabht ar bith go bhfuil an Bille seo iontach tábhachtach ag an am seo mar go bhfuil an spriocdháta 14 Márta ag bualadh linn go gasta. Is é sin an lá a mbeidh go leor daoine amuigh ansin ag crith, mar beidh a fhios againn ansin cé a bheidh ag ceannach na morgáistithe seo, na 13,000 morgáistithe atá in IBRC. Nuair a bheidh siad díolta, caillfear na protections atá acu cheana féin. Níl againn ach cosaint iontach lag ó thaobh an code of conduct agus ó thaobh an Financial Ombudsman, Fear an Phobail. Ach, tá siad ansin agus tá daoine ag brath orthu agus ag iarraidh iad a choinneáil.

I welcome Deputy McGrath's Bill. It was very interesting to hear Deputy Lawlor and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, find fault with this legislation. I acknowledge the fact the Government does not intend to oppose the legislation, but if this was a genuine Second Stage debate and it was intended to move to Committee Stage next week to deal with the issue, we would agree we should look at the areas where the Bill needs to be strengthened. Then we should look at the issues in terms of the special purpose vehicles, SPVs, the fact that penalties cannot be imposed or that, as Deputy McGrath acknowledged, it does not deal with those mortgages that have already been passed on to unregulated entities.

However, this is not the type of debate we are having here. This debate is about parking the issue. It is about allowing Second Stage to take place and for the Bill to be sent on for Committee Stage. The Government has no option but to do this, because it declared in its legislative programme at the start of this session that it is introducing a Bill that will have the same type of effect as that intended in this Bill. The only difference is that the Government wants to do it when all of these mortgages are sold to unregulated entities. The Department of Finance claims that this will be able to be done retrospectively, but I am not sure it will. I accept the adviser's word that it can be done retrospectively, as presented by Ann Nolan at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.

The real question here is not about penalties or unintended consequences, but whether there is the political will to deal with the issue. I cannot understand, and I am sure the 13,000 mortgage holders with IBRC and those fearful their mortgage books will be sold from other banks to unregulated institutions cannot understand why the Government will not deal with the issue here and now. The Government has told all of us, through its legislative programme, that it intends to introduce this legislation, but not until 2015. A number of months ago when the legislative programme was introduced, I questioned the Taoiseach on the Order of Business. I asked whether it was a misprint that this legislation was to be published in 2015. I told him at the time that the books were being sold and the words "horse", "stable", "door" and "bolted" sprang to mind.

The Taoiseach stood up here at that time and gave an explanation as to why the legislation was not being brought forward in this session. He acknowledged in his contribution that the books were being sold in the here and now. The explanation he gave for it not being introduced in this session was that there were 61 bids for legislation in this session. He went on to explain there are no longer three sessions in a Dáil year, but only two. He said there were 61 bids and because of pressure of time, only 43 could be dealt with. Therefore, he basically told the House that the 13,000 mortgage holders just did not come out of the pot at the right time and that only so much could be squeezed into a session.

I wonder what people at home or what anyone with an IBRC mortgage would think of this. On the day the Taoiseach made the explanation, it sounded quite reasonable, or at least plausible, but look at what is happening now. What legislation did we deal with today? None. We are having a love-in. The Government is having its three-year love-in. It is a clappy happy week, with no legislation to be dealt with and nothing to be prioritised. When the Taoiseach was telling us that the IBRC legislation could not be dealt with in this session because of the lack of time, did he know there was going to be a whole week of backslapping on having survived three years and that he was going to provide for these debates so that every Minister could tell the House how good he or she is, forgetting about legislation that affects people and which might allow them to continue with the protection they already enjoy? No, these are not priority issues for the Government.

I challenge whichever Minister comes to the Chamber to speak on this later to explain to the 13,000 mortgage holders why this legislation came down to a lottery. We are told it just did not come out of the hat. There were 61 applications for legislation, but not enough time. However, the Cabinet found enough time to have not one or two, but three, days of debate, without legislation, on the record of the Government. This is unbelievable, but it is a trademark and hallmark of the Government. It is about spin, not about substance.

If the Government is genuine about providing protection for these mortgage holders, we can deal with the legislation right now.

I am not saying the legislation can be brought in overnight, but Deputy McGrath's Bill is definitely the basis for moving forward. There are areas that need to be improved and strengthened, which we can do on Committee Stage, if there is a real political will and desire to deal with the issue. The Government has said it wants to do that. When I questioned a senior official from the Department of Finance at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform she said it was the Government’s intention those IBRC mortgage holders would be protected and could therefore rely on the code of conduct and the Financial Services Ombudsman.

The Minister for Finance can issue a directional order to the special liquidators of IBRC. This is not some magic power of the Minister for Finance. He has used this power three times. He can do this. He has done it. At the stroke of a pen he can issue a directional order, in the context of the Bill, not to proceed with the sale of the IBRC loans. It is not a major issue to delay the sale further because these loans were due to be sold before Christmas. It could be done now but the Government lacks the will. If that were done it would knock heads together to draft the best and strongest legislation to protect consumers and taxpayers. It would achieve the Government’s intention of providing the protection of the code of conduct and the Financial Services Ombudsman to mortgage holders with IBRC and other financial institutions. I challenge the Government to explain why a directional order, which is allowed under the Act, will not be issued. Why does the Government not accept my offer to work with it, even if that means for extra days or over weekends, in committee to come up with the best legislation to provide the protections that everyone in this Chamber says we want? The Government needs to decide whether it really wants it right now. Why does it not accept that challenge?

This concerns the vulture funds that want to bid on the assets. We saw the story in the media today about Wilbur Ross and his turnover. People are applauding him and saying it was the best investment he ever made, but it was a terrible investment for this State. It gave it a boost at the time but it was not a good investment. Selling the taxpayer short in the middle of March is not good for the State in the long run. That will happen if the Government does not put in protection. The Government might think it will satisfy the vulture funds and tell its colleagues in Europe, particularly the Commission, which has restructuring documents for other financial institutions on its table, that there is an appetite for Irish mortgages, but it will be bad in the long term. We need to start to stand up for the interests of ordinary Irish taxpayers.

Deputy Lawlor asked, in what I presume was a slighting tone, what would happen to the mortgages if we burnt the bondholders and their unguaranteed bonds. We can all make mistakes, but people should do their research. We are provided with researchers in this House. Deputy Lawlor should also know there are different types of bond - guaranteed, unguaranteed, secured and unsecured. I remind him, even though he is not here, and the Minister of State, as the Government celebrates its third anniversary, that on 25 January 2012 the Government allowed Anglo Irish Bank, now IBRC, pay out €1.25 billion to an unguaranteed, unsecured bondholder. That shows Deputy Lawlor that those bonds were not secured against mortgages. He should not try to muddy the issue. The Government paid out in full and the bondholder received a huge bonanza. In the same way, the vulture funds that are about to pounce on the 13,000 mortgage holders will likely get a bonanza because the Government refuses to put in place the legislation necessary to give statutory effect to the code of conduct and recourse to the Financial Services Ombudsman because it would be a disadvantage to those bidders. All the smoke and mirrors around voluntarily accepting the code has been exposed as nonsense. There is no formal written agreement between the Central Bank, the Department of Finance and the potential buyer of these mortgages. It has no legal standing. The restructuring arrangements can be torn up as part of the review when it comes up within a year, as most do. The Government is pandering to the vulture funds, as it did to the bondholders. This Government is bloody damn well consistent, because the next time it stands up for ordinary taxpayers will be the first time. There was a time, when it entered government, that it talked tough, and there was also the belief that it was going to walk tough, but it does not even talk tough any more. It does not even pretend to stand up for ordinary taxpayers. While I welcome the fact that this legislation will go to Committee Stage, that will mean nothing unless it is done before the mortgage book is sold. The Minister for Finance should issue the directional order to stop the sale of the 13,000 mortgages to the vulture funds and sit down with the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform to allow us to improve this legislation, or let the Minister present his own legislation and pass it. Only then should the Government allow the sale of IBRC’s mortgage book to proceed.

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