Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to begin by saying well done to Deputy Michael McGrath on this Bill and on his consistent work over a very long period on this issue.

When the news that Permanent TSB was proposing to sell around 18,000 distressed mortgages hit the headlines, the public was angered. It was incensed. The anger was not confined to those who were actually affected but spread across the board, because there was a unity in wanting to deal with this issue. The public was annoyed because Irish citizens bailed out the banks, and it feels as though that has been forgotten. The public is also annoyed because the State is the majority shareholder in this bank and people feel that the State should step up and stop this.

We all know what it means to have a mortgage sold to a vulture fund. It means the mortgage holder will be harassed and tortured. The vulture fund will come after the mortgage holder, hoping for a quick sale, and will squeeze every last cent out of him or her, with no mercy, compassion or leeway. They are unregulated, answerable to no one, and can do what they like. The banks should be working through their loan books, working on a case by case basis, dealing with the distressed loans of citizens and doing the best they can to make the mortgage work out. If no solution can be found matters can be properly dealt with through the courts. Instead they are outsourcing their dirty work and are selling off what they are calling underperforming loans. They are not distinguishing between those who are genuinely trying to pay and those who are not attempting to pay. That is wrong. We must differentiate between those people. We must be on the side of ordinary citizens. We must look after those who are making genuine attempts to pay. Vulture funds will not do that.

This Bill must come before the House. It needs to be passed, but it must be in situ before this sale takes place, otherwise it will be for nothing. Citizens need to see that the Government is on their side, not on the side of the banks. In this particular instance It is heartening, and telling, that every citizen - even those not affected - feel very strongly about this issue and want to see action taken. They want to see our Government and our TDs back them, instead of the banks.

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