Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Tá áthas orm a bheith ag caint ar an reachtaíocht seo. Cuirim fáilte roimh an reachtaíocht atá curtha os comhair an tí ag an Teachta Michael McGrath. I welcome the Bill and I commit that my party will work the Minister and Deputy Michael McGrath on Committee Stage to ensure it sees its way into law. My party fully supports the Bill and hopes it can progress as quickly as possible. It adds some amount of reassurance to homeowners with regard to who is eventually regulated, and it closes the gap in terms of the regulatory framework.

We all know, and it has been articulated by previous speakers, that vultures are scavengers and need something to scavenge on. What attracted them here was the carcass of an economy that was ruined by a previous Government under Fianna Fáil and the light touch regulation we had at that time. We must remember this and learn from it, but we also need to accept the Bill on its merits. The Bill is one that I have no problem supporting.

I recall standing with the IBRC mortgage holders outside the gates of Leinster House just over four years ago as they found themselves in the clutches of the vultures. They grouped together and demanded action from the Government. Along with others, I supported their campaign and at that time we forced the previous Government, comprising Fine Gael and the Labour Party, to act. What we got was a draft Bill that proposed to regulate the vultures, the owners of the debt, but then there were dramatic changes as a result of lobbying by the same vultures, and instead of regulating the owner of the debt what the Government proposed was to regulate the credit servicing firms, the middlemen, and that was a huge mistake.

Tonight, the Minister gave me a reply to a parliamentary question in which he informed me that ten of those middlemen, or so-called credit servicing firms, that were operating at the time did not actually go through with their applications. They withdrew their applications for regulation. Two of them still operate under the transitional regime, which, in 2015, stated that when the legislation was passed they would be deemed to be regulated until they were authorised after an application to the Central Bank. Three years later, two of them are still unauthorised but are operational in the State and ten of them have been authorised.

We proposed an amendment to the legislation in 2015. During its passage we called for full regulation of the owners of the debt. We wanted the Government to go back to the original purpose of the legislation and not the half measure we were dealing with then. Some of the IBRC mortgage holders were in the room, and they were let down by the Labour Party and Fine Gael, and by Fianna Fáil which did not turn up to vote on the amendment at the time. The Minister knows that in 2017 I tabled a Bill on this issue that would close the regulatory gap. It was in for the lottery. I welcome the Bill that is before us tonight. It is a progressive step forward. I am glad all sides of the House now support what Sinn Féin argued for in 2015.

Let me be clear about this, and I recall introducing the legislation in 2017, this is not the solution in its entirety and if we were to have an honest debate here, everybody knows this. This regulation of the vultures would mean that if they step out of line the Central Bank can prosecute them and hold them to account, as opposed to going after the middleman. The Central Bank has no reach at this point in time to the vultures unless they break the rules or step over the line.

What the Bill does not do, and this is what we need to talk about, is protect homeowners. I am very concerned that the country is being sold a pup. An impression is being given that because of this legislation, which is important legislation that brings us a step forward, somehow these homeowners will be protected. They will not be protected and this message needs to go out loud and clear. It does not give them any additional protection under the code of conduct on mortgage arrears. It gives them no additional protection under the consumer protection code. It gives them no additional protection - none whatsoever - from the vultures repossessing their homes. It does something different, and that something different is very welcome, but the core issue here is, as has been mentioned, Permanent TSB, a State-owned bank, is about to embark on selling 18,000 loans, 14,000 of which are family homes and 4,000 of which have tenants in them.

The problem at its core is that vultures have only a short-term interest. When the legislation is passed it will not make a difference to the homeowner. There is no additional requirement on the vultures. There is no requirement on them to offer any of the options of the code of conduct on mortgage arrears because that code is entirely voluntary with regard to the suite of options. As was mentioned earlier, vultures do not do split mortgages or capital arrears. They do not do the measures taken in 80% of the 120,000 restructures that have happened in the State. If we allow this sale to go through we will throw those families to the vultures. Regulated or not, it makes no difference. The Bill does what it says on the tin. It basically states if the vultures step over the line and do not comply with the code of conduct the Central Bank can prosecute them, but it does not provide any protection. This is why I plead with Fianna Fáil to use the weight it has in supporting the Government to ensure the sale does not go through.

Permanent TSB has done shoddy job at dealing with its loan book. We should not facilitate it, and when I say "we" I really mean the Minister. He can hide behind the arrangement that is there, that technically he does not have to give consent, but he has to be consulted. He is the Minister that holds 75% of the shares in this bank and he needs to stand up and say the Government does not support the notion of our citizens' loans being sold to vultures, regulated or not, because we know the vultures have a short-term interest and we recognise the citizens' loans are a long-term product. They simply do not merge. It does not work. Unfortunately, the Bill provides cover to banks, which now think somehow it is okay to sell loans to vultures simply because they are regulated.

It is not the regulation that is the issue, but the fact the code of conduct on mortgage arrears and the options thereunder are not mandatory. There is no requirement on the vultures to offer any of those solutions - none whatsoever. That is the problem. I welcome the review of the code of conduct on mortgage arrears, and I put out a public statement to that effect, but the last time that was reviewed, a repossession agenda was pursued. The review gave additional powers to the banks and reduced the powers of the consumer. Let me make it clear. I call on the Minister to stand up and make it clear that he will not support Permanent TSB selling loans to vultures, regulated or not, because we know how it ends up. Moreover, I call on him to appeal to Ulster Bank to follow suit.

See this speech in context