Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Despite that, people hold the belief that if they simply act in good faith and try their level best the regulatory powers in the State will protect them, but that has not been happening. That is not the experience of so many thousands of families right across the country. Then the Minister tries to lecture us on bringing forward a well-researched motion. The figures are there if he wants to quote them but he does not. I was only in court this morning to witness the shameful treatment in the Four Courts by a major bank, AIB. It is pure disgusting that we put money into it. I voted to save it. That was the biggest political mistake I ever made in my life. I said that countless times here. Our grandchildren will be paying for it. What did we do? We gave it the right to treat people like dirt. That is what is happening. In fact, what is going on in this State is very much like the old Roman circus, where the innocent were thrown to the lions for the amusement and the profit of the elite. It is disgusting. A previous Minister and Taoiseach said vulture funds were good.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae reminded us of what vultures are; anyone farming or living in the country knows what these funds do. I will not repeat what the Deputy said.

If the Minister believes that is an overstatement then I encourage him to spend a week or even a day with any of these families and let him see what it is like to see one's entire life’s work being eaten away from the inside by vicious and heartless vultures. It is like a corrosive rust; it is sick and vile. It was suggested that we were vile; we are just telling the truth. We are Teachtaí Dála, messengers of the people. The Minister forgets that. We are bringing the message to the Parliament, even though it is empty and although the Government is smug, laughing and sneering at us. The electorate will have the final say.

Our motion is clear. We are calling on the Government to accept the principle of the conclusions reached by FLAC that there is a significant inequality of arms between the lender and the borrower, where the borrower may have no meaningful influence on the content of the terms of the loan and may be wholly unaware that the lender is reserving the right to sell the loan on to an entity of its choice. That is deceit, plain and simple, and should be called nothing else. It is a profoundly stark and brutally honest assessment of where we are. The power of the lender and the power of the borrower are in no way fair or proportionate. The vultures and other regulated and unregulated entities have absolutely no fear whatsoever of the Central Bank’s code of conduct on mortgage arrears. I have said here numerous times; the regulators are toothless, useless, and fruitless. It is like rubbing margarine or butter into a fat sow's behind. That is what is being done. They are laughing all the way to the bank. The vultures are totally unregulated entities and have absolutely no fear of the Central Bank's code of conduct. The Minister might as well write to Santa Claus, or whistle "Dixie".

As our motion noted, a report on this was furnished to the Minister for Finance in 2018. I accept that this element of our motion needed to be clearer, and I thank Deputy Pearse Doherty for raising the point. We have no monopoly on knowledge and do not claim to have but nor do we have the resources the Government has either. To be specific, we ask that the provisions of the code of conduct be given legislative force to ensure that all parts of the code are expressly admissible in repossession hearings. This would have the effect of greatly diminishing the imbalance of power between borrower and lender, which is what is really at the heart of the difficulty here. Anyone who wants to see that can see it. We broadly agree with FLAC’s conclusions that not all elements of the report are acceptable or desirable. Given the context and detail of the motion, what we meant is clear even if I accept that it could have been phrased to enable more clarity on the matter. Other speakers mentioned the request of the motion calling on the Government to recognise that so-called vulture funds pose an immediate and overwhelming threat to borrowers in rural and urban Ireland and to accept that unregulated entities have demonstrated a clear unwillingness to abide by voluntary codes of conduct. Deputy Michael McGrath made that quite clear. The vulture funds refused to come before the Oireachtas committee on finance. The Minister refuses to put it into legislation that those funds must appear before that committee. The Minister accepted that the banks will appear before the committee to answer questions and do their best and to face the music. The funds, however, have a carte blancheand are above all of that. They do the dirty work, like the invaders in our country before we got our own democracy, and the Government lets them off with impunity.

These points should not be open to negotiation given how clear-cut they are. The funds must be regulated and be made accountable to this House. We are accountable to the people, as is the Government. We do not live in a dictatorship, although sometimes one would wonder. As we have pointed out already, this motion must be seen in the context of what has happened with respect to the sale of mortgage loan books. I refer specifically to the decision by Allied Irish Banks to sell a significant volume of non-performing-to-let loans to Cerberus, involving buy-to-let loans with an approximate value of €1 billion involving at least 2,200 customers. Some people do not even know that this has happened. Does the Minister care about those people? They have been thrown to the wolves, like the Romans did. This is to say nothing of the fact that the decision by AIB was preceded by the sale of 6,139 loans linked to family homes by Permanent TSB, despite such accounts meeting the terms of their agreed arrangements. What is the point in acting in good faith? People might have agreements on restructuring and is meeting those agreements but the whole thing can be cleared like snow off a ditch when the sun comes out. It is totally disgraceful and reprehensible. We must ask ourselves the following important question, namely, if the banks are only too willing to sell of both performing and non-performing loans, then what is the point in engaging with them at all? Why should people bother being responsible when both those who are reckless and those who are acting in good faith are being thrown to the wolves? I am asking the Minister to accept that we have both a real and an emerging problem with this in our State. Communities and families are living in absolute dread of receiving notification that their loans are being sold on. They simply do not have confidence in the regulatory powers to protect their interests. That needs to change and it needs to change quickly.However, the Minister's attitude here tonight has been to dismiss the Rural Independent Group. He has shown his annoyance with us for putting down this motion, as much as to say we thought we had a monopoly. We never claimed that. The Minister does not seem to have any interest in this whatsoever. The Government seems to be in bed with the banks and the vultures. They can do what they like. They are supported, and are given carte blanche. What about the people who pay their hard taxes and who have worked might and main to build up their businesses and to pay their mortgages? This is the treatment they get. They are being let down by this Government.

The Government has refused a Sinn Féin Bill and a Fianna Fáil Bill. It now appears totally opposed to this motion we have brought forward, which is common sense. It is reflective of the situation and it must be accepted by the Government. The Government is a minority government. We were told there would be new politics. This is not new politics; it is dictatorship. Moreover, Members should look around the Chamber tonight. Is mór an trua an rud seo nach bhfuil éinne anseo. The Labour Party: cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan adhmad? Tá na Teachtaí ón Lucht Oibre imithe. Where are all the heroes, my colleagues from the hard left? I compliment any Deputy from the House who stood for election to the European Parliament; some of whom have been successful. I wish them all well, including those who were unsuccessful. However, this is shameful. This is such an important issue. I am surprised the Minister for Finance stayed tonight, and I thank him for that. It is seldom he stays; he has no interest in the backbenches. His party is the party of the big people, of those who live up twisting avenues, up the boreen lined with trees and the daffodils growing. It represents the elite, the rich, and to hell with ordinary people. It is a sad day for Ireland when that is the interest Members have. This is not new politics; it is dictatorship. The Government is beholden to the banks and the vulture funds. There is also a situation regarding the funding of political parties. We know what is going on. The process is supposed to be transparent and totally democratic. It is codswallop.

Fine Gael is the party of the landed gentry and big business. There are many cranes in Dublin, but nothing is going on in the rest of the country because AIB and many other banks are closed for business. They are not lending and they are not supporting the economy. They are refusing to support loyal customers they had for decades. A businessman in my parish contacted me recently. He only found out, when he rang his bank, that his loan had been sold on. He had been with the bank for 35 years, and his father had been with the same bank for 30 years before that. He was a good employer, and that is the kind of respect being shown. The Government wants to grow the economy but it is being grown with foreign direct investment and slave labour and labour camps. Think of Turas Nua, which the Government has been forced to abandon. I implore the Minister to reflect on what we have to offer and listen to us. We are elected by the people, as the Minister is. Deputy Harty was more reflective on the situation than we are. He is an excellent Deputy who does his best, and just because he does not blindly support the Government, the Minister stiffly criticised him. When we bring forward a motion and research it, as we are entitled to do, it must be listened to with respect, not with indignation.

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