Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The question today is why any Irish government would oppose the reintroduction of a mortgage interest relief scheme in the middle of such a dire housing crisis. Mortgage interest relief, which offers borrowers tax relief on the interest portion of their mortgage, ended in the Republic in 2020. However, the pressures facing mortgage holders today, in addition to other cost-of-living increases, mean its reintroduction is justified. The fact is the coalition's failure to act on this issue and on other housing related policy matters means that pressure is now growing for action on a number of fronts, including support for borrowers as mortgage interest rates rise.

Furthermore, the plight of borrowers whose loans were sold to so-called vulture funds has not been addressed by the Government. These people have effectively been thrown to the wolves. More than 100,000 borrowers had their loans sold to vulture funds, with some now paying interest rates of up to 7% - well above the levels paid by the banking lenders.

I brought up a case many times about O'Donovan's Hotel and the way the banks and vulture funds treated it, putting the jobs of 70 employees in jeopardy. I have listened to the ins and outs of this case – from the banks' actions, to the vulture funds, their finance and the carry-on of them. There must be an independent inquiry into the way O'Donovan's Hotel was treated. The only reason Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party will not allow that is they know that once the independent investigation takes place, it will rip right open what is going on in this country with vulture funds and the carry-on with the cosy relationship they have with the banks. That is what happened here. The good-living, hard-working people of Clonakilty, who were paying their debt and who wanted to continue to pay their debt, had their loans sold to the vulture funds unknown to them. If they were not paying their debt, I would have sympathy for some bankers somewhere, but there is no sympathy whatsoever here.

I continued to call on the Tánaiste, Deputy Martin, and on the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, last week to launch an independent investigation. I do not want any investigation by the bank or the vulture funds. It must be an independent investigation on how the hotel was treated. Farmers, residents and business people in this country have their loans sold unknown to them. It is shocking. People have committed suicide because of the upset and harm that has been done to their businesses and the Government is standing over this continuously. It is afraid to tackle the banks, even though the Government itself is a major shareholder in the banks. It is afraid to take them on but the Government has to take them on. If it is honest, O'Donovan's Hotel should be the first case to be investigated. An independent investigation must be carried out in this country once and for all. I call on the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, to stand with the people here.

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