Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Many thousands of families across the State are still experiencing mortgage distress. Many of us in this House know some of these families. The Tánaiste will be aware that vulture funds swooped into this country, the banks and the Government having rolled out the red carpet to them.

They have bought up tens of thousand of distressed loans from banks. My legislation, the No Consent, No Sale Bill, which was passed with the approval of the Dáil on Second Stage, is being blocked by the Government and indeed by Fianna Fáil on Committee Stage. This Bill would prevent the sale of mortgages to vulture funds without the consent of the homeowner.

We have been told that all of the protections go with the sale of the loan. That was never the issue. The issue is that these vulture funds only have a short-term interest. This morning we learned how one of the funds, Cerberus, has hiked up interest rates on these distressed borrowers. Their interest rates are now over 5%. The interest rate for new customers in this State is just over 3% while in Europe, the average is below 2%. It is absolutely scandalous that vulture funds can do this. The reality is that if these funds want to increase it by another 1% or 2%, there is nothing that this House can do. We need to prevent the sale of these loans to vulture funds in the first place.

What response does the Tánaiste have to the fact that the vulture funds that his Government welcomed so much into the country are now punishing the same families by hiking up their interest rates? Can he reconsider his Government's opposition to my legislation, which would prevent these sales in the first place?

See this speech in context