Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The debate that is currently taking place in respect of the sale by Permanent TSB of Project Glas, comprising loans relating to 14,000 family homes and 4,000 rental accommodation units, is false. I have been a strong advocate of the regulation of vulture funds. Indeed, the Minister, when he was Minister of State at the Department of Finance, dealt with the 2015 legislation proposed by Sinn Féin in the context of the regulation of vulture funds. I introduced legislation last year to regulate these funds but we need to be clear regarding what that would and would not do. If any party wants to support our legislation, fine. If a party wants to introduce its own legislation to bring about the desired end, we will support it without question.

We need to insert a little honesty into the debate. Regulation of vulture funds will not stop the threat of repossession. The only thing currently stopping the regulated banks from repossessing properties en masseis the potential impact on the long-term return on their investments and the effect on their reputations as companies operating in communities in which they are looking for business. That is not how vulture funds operate. They are only interested in short-term turnaround and quick profit. These funds, regardless of whether they are regulated, have no interest in reaching solutions with homeowners and no interest in restructured loans or interest only payments. There is no incentive for them to behave as members of society. They are not bound by the same sense of community. They are ruthless and, therefore, the sale of Permanent TSB loans to vulture funds puts 14,000 families and 4,000 renters in an extremely vulnerable position. There is no doubt that if it proceeds, there will be large scale repossessions, regulated or not.

The impression is now being given publicly that by simply regulating these funds, mortgage holders will have some magical protection that they do not currently have. That has made the situation even worse because it has created a pathway for banks which heretofore would not have sold to vulture funds to do so . The impression now is that if these funds are regulated, it is okay to sell to them. That is simply not the case. The Government can do something about this. Families and renters are watching these proceedings and hoping and praying that the Government will stand up to the vulture funds and stop this sale. If we are honest about this then stopping the sale is the only way to prevent mass repossessions. The Taoiseach said it would be illegal to direct the banks not to sell loans. That is fair enough but it is not illegal for the Minister for Finance or, indeed, the Government to inform the Permanent TSB of the position of its major shareholder, namely, the Government. Indeed, that is not even unprecedented. On previous occasions, the Minister for Finance brought in representatives from the banks in respect of the tracker mortgage scandal and high interest rates and outlined the Government's position. The Government is refusing to do that in the context of this matter.

Does the Minister accept that simply regulating vulture funds will not provide additional protections to the 14,000 mortgage holders and 4,000 renters if their loans are sold to such funds? If he does accept that, will the Government, and the Minister for Finance in particular, call in the banks to tell them what Sinn Féin has been asking them to do for the past number of years, namely, not to sell long-term products such as mortgages on family homes to vulture funds that only have a short-term interest?

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