John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I shall be brief as I have just a few questions for the Minister. Before I start, it is worth pointing out that we are happy, and the Greek people are happy, that Sinn Féin's proposal to veto the establishment of the ESM during the fiscal treaty debate did not go ahead. It was Sinn Féin's position. The party used the threat of a veto as a bargaining tool and thought it might work. However, it did not happen. The fiscal treaty went through, the ESM was not vetoed and the Greek people were very happy. The Irish people and all of Europe were happy with the outcome.

With regards to the €6 billion mortgage book of ICS, how much of it is performing? How many of its mortgages are performing and how many are not performing? Do we have those figures? Let us look at the mortgage book. How many of the mortgages are home loans as opposed to buy-to-let mortgages? Do we have that information?

The onward transfer speaks of €1 billion. Will the onward transfer of any assets be sold by the Bank of Ireland at par value? Will haircut discounts be given? If so, will that have an implication for the capitalisation ratios of Bank of Ireland afterwards? Will that expose the taxpayer to further recapitalisation of the banks associated with the process?

Perhaps the Minister can say a few words about how the figure of €1 billion out of €6 billion was arrived at. It is included in the restructuring plan from the Commission but perhaps the Minister can give us his thoughts on it.

Why is there no provision to allow individual homeowners bid for their mortgages with onward transfer from Bank of Ireland? Is there any provision for this and is it a good idea? It is technically and administratively difficult to do but perhaps it should be done if it can be. The recapitalisation plan states that €1 billion can be onwardly transferred if the acquirer requires it. That is the language of the Commission plan. What does that mean exactly? I am not very clear. Does it indicate that Bank of Ireland already has an acquirer lined up to take possession of these loans? The debate of 28 March indicates it is not a requirement of Bank of Ireland to make the onward transfer of the loans but it might be desirable to do so. Perhaps the Minister can explain the rationale behind that statement.