Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is also essential that holders of distressed mortgages are not put through further distress and perhaps rendered homeless, which would add to the crisis we are facing. The time for the Taoiseach to stand by the people and to make sure that we got the legislation right was in 2015. He is correct to say that the servicers of the mortgages - those companies hired by the vulture funds - are regulated, but the big gap in the legislation is that the funds themselves are footloose and fancy-free. The purpose of our amendment in 2015 was to set that right, but the Government chose to look the other way.

The Taoiseach said that these loans have not yet been sold and that we still have time. I want clarity around what he proposes to do with that time. People need to hear that An Taoiseach and the Government will stand by mortgage holders, families and people who have already been through a very testing nightmare scenario. I want to hear that as well. What will the Minister say when Permanent TSB contacts the Minister? Will the Minister tell it that under no circumstances can this sale go ahead? Is the Taoiseach prepared, in the common interest - in the interests of citizens and not balance sheets - to issue the directive as suggested? The big dilemma now is that, by definition, the interests of vulture funds in these mortgages is short term. Distressed mortgage holders - in fact, any holder of a mortgage - enters into a long-term contract that can hit bumps in the road. That is the reality, and everybody here knows it. I believe the Taoiseach must act. Rather than sounding a concerned note, he needs to be more substantive in his reply.

I thank him for his good wishes on my election as Uachtarán Sinn Féin

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