Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to hear that work on draft legislation is under way. I was really concerned when the Minister of State said that if foreign bidders or non-regulated entities rowed back from the voluntary code the Minister would act quickly. In another conversation I would say "Why wait until then?" because that is very poor practice. Suppose we had another Government or another Minister that was not as concerned about people's homes. He or she might not act that quickly, so we do need more protection. I seek clarification on one point because I do not understand this. Perhaps the Minister of State would comment on why we should wait until an entity rows back from the code. The Minister of State said in his response: "I understand from the appearance of the special liquidator before the Oireachtas committee today that approximately 400 IBRC mortgage holders have repurchased their loans to date." Is there a right to repurchase? I know there is nothing to prevent it but I thought they were not allowing it. That was how I understood it today.