Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is a matter for the committee but the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, said they should show up and answer questions from committee members. I will give Senators the information which I know to be correct. There are 11,300 private dwelling homes in the ownership of vulture funds, down from 12,500 in the past 12 months and representing about 1.5% of the overall market, there being some 740,000 mortgages in the overall market.

Section 110 was never meant to be used for property and somebody was way too clever in applying that section of the tax code to property. When it was exposed, it was closed down as quickly as possible. Section 110 is a legitimate piece of tax legislation that was used over decades in an appropriate manner but was not appropriate to property.

Local authorities have the power to go into any derelict building and board it up and even have the authority to demolish a building if it is unsafe.

The ECB and the SSM have emerged as a theme in the debate. As a former member of the banking inquiry, I saw what light-touch regulation leads to. That era is over and rightly so, and the regulation is now independent of eurozone governments. If we allow governments to influence the ECB or the SSM some countries might take the opportunity to advantage themselves, putting their economies at risk. The SSM has said that non-performing loans have to be reduced. PTSB has 28% of such loans, which is five times the average, and the average in SSM requests is at 5%. One can ask if the SSM is right or wrong or if it is right for PTSB to have 28% of its loans non-performing. It is a question that is very easy to answer. A bank loan book should not have 28% of its loans which are not performing so PTSB has to do something about it and this is part of that.

We have very few repossessions in this country, with 400 in quarter 3. It is 400 too many but in every property market around the world, if people stop paying their property is repossessed. What has been done in our jurisdiction is quite remarkable. There was a code of conduct for mortgage arrears in 2009, which was revised in 2010. The mortgage arrears and personal debt expert group report, the Cooney report, was published in 2010 and the Law Reform Commission report on personal debt management and enforcement was published in 2010. There was a further CCMA review in 2011 and an interdepartmental mortgage arrears working group report, the Keane report, was published in 2011.

The mortgage-to-rent scheme was introduced following this in 2012, and there was a Personal Insolvency Act in 2012. The Central Bank mortgage arrears resolution targets required regulated lenders to propose and conclude sustainable solutions with borrowers in mortgage arrears. There was a further review of the CCMA in 2012 and the Insolvency Service of Ireland was established following the Insolvency Act 2012.

There was the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013 and a Central Bank framework for a pilot approach to a co-ordinated resolution of multiple debts owed by a distressed borrower was published in 2013. The report of the expert group on repossessions came out in 2013, there was the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015 and the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2015. The Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness implemented the scheme known as Abhaile and in 2016 the Department of Finance produced a detailed report on mortgage arrears. An incredible amount has been done to keep people in homes. Our jurisdiction has among the lowest level of repossessions in the world and that is a good thing because nobody wants people to be put out on the street.

This is not the choice of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. The State owns 75% of the bank and the board of directors must act in the interests of the company. If we fire directors, whoever replaces them must also act in the interests of the company. The Minister can keep hiring and firing members of the board but they must act in the interests of the company. It is not a matter for the Minister.

I found what Senator O'Donnell said a bit disturbing. If I understand him correctly he said that credit servicing firms are regulated in a different way from any other institution which holds a loan book.