Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil is supporting the Bill. It is happy to support any measures that will, in principle, help distressed mortgage holders. It is welcome that the purpose of the Bill is to broaden the scope of matters that courts must take into account. We believe that loans should not be sold to vulture funds. Such practices are causing great distress to people across the country. Apart from this Bill - with the greatest of respect to the Minister of State, I believe Fine Gael is advancing it to appease him - the Government has practically abandoned distressed mortgage holders across the country. All Members are aware of such situations from people in our constituencies and hearing awful stories of people in great distress.

Fianna Fáil brought forward legislation to regulate vulture funds for the first time in this country which was signed into law in late 2018. However, more progress needs to be made on the insolvency regime side. In the absence of a fair and functioning regime, it is the courts and not the Government which offer some bit of protection to distressed mortgage holders. Fianna Fáil has brought forward a Bill which would remove the veto which banks currently hold and establish a mortgage resolutions office which would provide fair and sustainable solutions to mortgage holders and allow those making a real effort to pay their mortgage to stay in their home. That is the only solution in the absence of proper social housing building across the country. That is the real nub of this issue. People are staying in their homes and trying to work through their mortgage distress because they have no alternative; they do not want to be out on the streets with their children. Fianna Fáil believes the Government needs to make substantial progress in that regard.