Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The agreement which Fianna Fáil entered into with Fine Gael and the programme for Government Fine Gael has agreed with the Independents refers to the issue of providing greater protection for borrowers, including SMEs, mortgage holders and tenants who occupy properties, regarding loans that have been sold to unregulated entities or vulture funds. This is the key issue on which I want to focus. The 2015 legislation is not complete, in that the owner of the loan does not require to be regulated whereas the credit servicing firm and the intermediary does require to be regulated. The definition in the Act excludes, for example, the determination of the overall strategy for the management and administration of a portfolio of credit agreements. It is clear that potential consequences arise from the fact that the vulture fund or unregulated entity is outside the ambit of Central Bank regulation and protections and, in our view, this piece of legislation must be amended to take account fully of the issue.

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