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

As my position has not changed since Committee Stage, the Deputies will not be surprised to hear that I am not accepting the amendment. As I said on Committee Stage, there are a number of issues with it. First, it would prevent the sale of mortgages to an entity which was in the process of obtaining authorisation from the Central Bank. It could also potentially prevent the sale of these assets permanently in the event that the CCMA was repealed or replaced by the Central Bank, even if equivalent or greater protection applied to a potential purchaser. In addition, it could potentially give rise to legal complexities in any further sale of loan assets by Bank of Ireland by having a containment effect on the broader pool of assets of the bank, making it difficult to identify which assets had been transferred from ICS under the Bill into the broader pool of Bank of Ireland's assets.

I agree, however, with the objective of the amendment. The Government is committed to bringing forward legislation that will protect mortgage holders and believes the sale of loan books to unregulated third parties Bill is the most effective way to address the issue in a comprehensive manner. The legislation will ensure the protection of the CCMA or any replacement code in the future will continue to apply to mortgages which are sold to unregulated financial service providers. The legislation is being actively progressed and will be brought before the Oireachtas once it has been finalised. As I said in response to Deputy Michael McGrath on Committee Stage, Deputies can take it that the legislation will be ready a lot sooner than the 2015 date listed for publication. It is on the C list of the Government's legislative programme, but I intend to have it included in the A list of legislative proposals for the next Oireachtas session, if it is not possible to publish it before then.

The protection of mortgage holders is an important issue and I assure Deputies that I want to give priority to this legislation. The issue, however, does not arise under the legislation which we are discussing which enables transfers to be made to banks. As all banks are regulated financial service providers, they are required to comply with the Central Bank's code of conduct on mortgage arrears. The amendment proposed by Deputy Pearse Doherty would address the matter in an incomplete manner as it refers specifically to the current CCMA. As I have said, it is not appropriate to refer to the specific code in primary legislation as it could necessitate a change to primary legislation were the code to be superseded or repealed. I cannot commend the amendment to the House, as it would not achieve the objective the Deputy is pursuing. Officials in the Department are engaged with the Central Bank and the Attorney General's office to ensure mortgage holders will be protected under the sale of loan books to unregulated third parties Bill. The Government will continue to work with interested parties to achieve the best result for consumers. The sale of loan books to unregulated third parties Bill will be dedicated legislation capable of addressing the issue in a more considered and complete way. That is my position.

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