Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

People took out those mortgages with ICS Building Society. Building societies were regarded by people at that time as safe and secure places. Now they will be with a company about which we know little or nothing. The Minister appears hell-bent on increasing competition in this sector. Sub-prime lenders who are operating in this sector were brought in for the same reason, to increase competition. Look what they have done to people in this country. Many constituents are suffering because of companies such as Start and Springboard charging exorbitant rates. They are now selling their mortgages to vulture funds such as O3 and Lone Star. Other sales have taken place to Pepper and Tanager. Is this what the Minister means by competition? Those lenders should have been outlawed a long time ago. Their books should have been taken over by the State and the banks, generally, should have been taken over by the State and run in the public interest, not in the interest of the bondholders. We are now seeing the impact of leaving the banks in private hands. They should have been nationalised under democratic control, accountable to consumers and those who work in them.

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