David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is the deal. Families cannot do anything about the letters they receive. They are then told not to worry because all of the deals they entered into will be honoured and that there is nothing to see here, similar to what the Government stated about Bills brought forward by the Opposition to regulate and deal with vulture funds. There is no problem, until people receive a letter from a vulture fund stating it wants payment within 30 days. That is what is happening to so many families. What does the Government do? It does nothing. It allows the vulture funds to come in, circle and prey on the vulnerabilities of families and does nothing about it.

The Minister has challenged and put it up to me to propose alternatives. We brought forward a Bill to provide for no sale without consent. It was passed democratically in the House on Second Stage, which means nothing to the Government. We can vote in the House as a majority, but the Government, supported by Fianna Fáil, ignores the majority and nothing is done. We brought forward the Bill to regulate vulture funds and make sure families would have a say and have to give their consent before their mortgages were sold.

There are alternatives, including the Bill proposed by Deputy Pearse Doherty. Who are the people who are trying to block these alternatives? They include Fianna Fáil , Fine Gael and the European Central Bank. Mr. Draghi came before an Oireachtas committee to tell people the Bill could not be delivered or supported. The Minister for Finance and previous Ministers said nothing could be done, but the people who are really concerned about this issue, whose mortgages are being sold from under their noses, are under real pressure.

I again remind the Minister that some of the vulture funds hire mercenaries to forcibly remove people from their homes. We have seen this happen in some parts of the country. When the Minister accuses members of the Opposition of pretending that they have a monopoly of compassion for the families concerned, the reason he does so is he knows that, in fact, it is the truth. If if he had compassion and really understood their fears and anxieties, he would do something about the unregulated nature of how vulture funds come into the country. Many of them are shelf companies, with hundreds of subsidiaries hiding behind other names. Nobody knows who they are, but one thing for sure is they are not here to act in the interests of the people. They are not here to act in the interests of those who bailed out the pillar banks. They are not here to keep people in their homes and they are not here to support hard-working families or to help those in mortgage distress; rather, they are here to make money on the back of people's misery. I am afraid the Minister's contribution was underwhelming and shameful because he did not acknowledge the suffering and anxiety of the individuals in question.

Sinn Féin will be supporting the motion. Through our finance spokesperson, Deputy Pearse Doherty, we will continue our work to have the No Consent, No Sale Bill 2019 passed. We will continue to provide the alternatives. If the Minister is not prepared to listen or to implement the alternatives, that is on him, the Fine Gael Party and the Government. The Minister needs to do an awful lot more. He needs to understand that this issue is real and he also needs to understand the reason the vulture funds are here. I think the Minister does understand. Fine Gael represents the cosseted privileged class who will always put the interests of vulture funds, banks, landlords, speculators and people who want to make huge amounts of money on the backs of other people ahead of the interests of people who simply want a roof over their head. That is all people want: a roof over their head. People work hard to have a roof over their head. When things go wrong, they expect some level of support, but of course it is not there. The Government will not support the people who need to be helped when they are in crisis but it will support the vulture funds, the banks and landlords. That is what this Government has done. The Minister should not pretend there is no alternative or that the Sinn Féin does not care or understand. Sinn Féin does care. The Minister understands but he does not care and the Government does not care. If it did, it would do something about it.

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