Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As it is Deputy McDonald's first occasion here in her new role as president of Sinn Féin, I take this opportunity to congratulate her on her election to that office. I know what it feels like to be elected to the leadership of a party one has worked in for decades, and I congratulate her. Becoming president of her party must be a very proud moment for her, her family and her supporters. She is also only the third woman to lead a major political party in Ireland. She has all of our best wishes in that regard.

On the substantive issue at hand, Permanent TSB has not yet sold any of these loans. It has not identified a buyer. Some people are making the assumption that the buyer will be a so-called vulture fund. It might not be; perhaps it will be another bank or financial institution. Permanent TSB has not yet consulted with the Minister for Finance. It is required to consult with the Minister for Finance before the sale is advanced, as a consequence of the fact that the State owns 75% of that bank. The Government will take that opportunity to present its views very clearly to Permanent TSB.

We stand very much on the side of families, mortgage holders and people who are making an honest effort to pay their debts and to pay down their mortgages and loans. There are already considerable protections in place, and we are open to considering any constructive proposals that might allow us to enhance those protections if necessary.

In terms of the specific issues raised by the Deputy, the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015 requires that the purchasers of loan books must either be regulated by the Central Bank or the loans must be serviced by a credit servicing firm which is regulated by the Central Bank. It is a little disingenuous to say that loans are being sold on to an unregulated entity. It is the law. It became law in 2015 that any purchaser of a loan book, or its agents, must be regulated by the Central Bank. We are open to considering any proposals to further strengthen that protection.

On the Deputy's suggestion that a directive be issued to a bank, under the relationship framework it would be illegal for the Minister for Finance to act in such a way. The relationship framework was agreed with the European Commission as part of the recapitalisation and bailout of the banks to make sure that those banks continue to operate on a commercial basis. It is important that those banks continue to operate on a commercial basis. We should not forget that banks have millions of customers whose deposits are held in those banks, and the safety of those deposits is dependent on the fact that banks operate in a commercial way.

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