Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the commitment in the programme for Government in regard to keeping people in their homes. Just this morning, at the finance committee, Ulster Bank confirmed it is going to sell another portfolio of loans, this time loans on family homes, to a vulture fund, and it expects this to happen before the end of the year. This comes on top of last year's sale of almost 4,000 properties between family homes and buy-to-lets. I have raised this with the Tánaiste on a number of occasions. That sale last year has seen people being sent letters telling them, "Clear your arrears within 30 days or we will take your property". The tenants in those properties will be evicted.

It is very clear that the policy of this Government of rolling out the red carpet to the vulture funds, giving them sweetheart taxation deals, is completely failing the Irish people and throwing them to the mercy of these vultures. I ask the Government to do the right thing at this late stage, given the line-up of banks that are about to sell to vultures. Will the Government support the No Consent, No Sale Bill in committee, which will give statutory effect to the code of practice of the Central Bank so permission will have to be sought before a family home is sold to a vulture?

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