Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In recent days, AIB has repurchased quite a lot of its shares from the Government. On the one hand, we should be happy about this. On the other hand, it brings back to mind the misery that the financial crisis brought to this country. There are still tens of thousands of people who are severely in debt and have distressed mortgages. These distressed mortgages have been passed from banks to shark funds, from shark fund to shark fund or to vulture funds or whatever what one wants to call them. I am familiar with some people who are still in that situation, many of whom are of my own vintage. They are getting letters from vulture funds demanding payment, and threatening to take properties, etc., but there is no signature on the bottom of the page and they have no idea who runs the organisation as there are no names or anything else on the letters. I am glad that AIB has found itself liquid again and in a position to buy back its shareholding from the Government but I wonder about the people who are suffering today. How do they feel knowing that this bank, which was bailed out on the backs of workers and taxpayers, managed to offload the problem to somebody who is still crucifying the individuals who owe a few bob? I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to be in your late 60s and find yourself in a situation where you have a vulture fund chasing you. We need to go back and see how we might assist those people to get out of financial trouble.

To a certain degree, the AIBs, Bank of Irelands and Permanent TSBs of this world have an obligation to the customers that they misled. I remember my young brother - God be good to him as he is long since gone - borrowing money and two banks competed. One of the banks brought him to St. Petersburg with five of his friends for the weekend in order to get him to sign on the bottom line. While individuals borrowing for their properties or whatever is a different story, the elderly are facing threats from these faceless people. At the very least, people should know the names of the directors of the organisation that currently holds your mortgage. People should have the name of a contact person and I am not talking about a 21 or 22-year-old who has no authority. People should have the name of a contact person that they can sit down with, meet and discuss the situation.

I call for a debate with the Minister for Finance to be arranged to specifically discuss distressed mortgages and the fallback to what the banks did to this country; not the individuals but the banks. Let us consider what Iceland did. Iceland walked away.