Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While we fully support the Bill, which is the right way to move forward, we need to bear in mind why such a Bill is needed. We are not talking about loan books or pieces of paper; we are talking about people's lives. We are talking about families who are struggling to make ends meet and find that their very future is in jeopardy. The programme for Government promised to do something to solve the problem but the Government has not solved the problem.

Yesterday in the High Court, the Master's list contained 101 loans for repossession, 70 of which were from AIB. The latter is owned by the State. I assume it is trying to clean up the mess before it is sold or whatever it is doing. The Master of the High Court, Mr. Honohan, said some time ago that AIB should be sponsoring the court given that so much of its business is going through it. That is a reflection of where matters stand because all of those people with family homes took out mortgages ten or 15 years ago in order to buy homes, get on with their lives and have a sense of a future. The rug is being pulled out from under those people. The reality is that no matter what we say, we have to do something to protect them and their futures.

Another thing that happens is that loans are sold on the market to vulture funds. The funds buy the loans, in most cases at a huge reduction. I have come across that in my constituency and I know many others have seen it happen as well. People have come to me who have made their mortgage repayments on time and who received letters indicating that their loans been sold. If they ask if they could buy them back at the same knockdown price that is available to vulture funds, they are told they cannot. Their offer is turned down. That is something that must be examined.

I have firm information that many of the loans being bought by the vulture funds are known to them in advance in terms of what the loan and property is like. Their only intention is to sell the property and put the people living there out of their home. We need to resolve those issues. While the Bill goes some distance towards doing that, much more needs to be done. The Government must get tough with the banks. If we do not do that, we are letting the people down. At the moment, everyone out there, including me, is paying a mortgage at approximately 3% above the average interest rate in the rest of Europe. This means that during the lifetime of most people's mortgages, they will have paid the banks €30,000 to €40,000 more in interest than should have been the case and than they would have paid if they were living in France, Germany or any other country in Europe. The banks in Europe are getting money from the European Central Bank, which is the same place the Irish banks get it, at practically 0% interest and yet they are screwing the Irish people when it comes to paying those loans. Having come through the terrible days of the recession and seeing our children emigrate and everything else that we have gone through, it is obscene that we are still in a situation whereby the banks are in the driving seat. I appeal to the Minister to look at the situation again, to support the Bill and to do more to ensure that Irish people can have a future, because that is what this is about.

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