Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Irish tax code does not penalise speculation in distressed residential debt, nor does it reward such speculation: it is neutral as to the intention of the investor.

What should give the Deputy comfort however, is that the transfer of a loan from one entity to another does not change the terms of the contract or the borrower's rights and obligations under the original contract.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015 was enacted on 8 July 2015.  This Act introduced a regulatory regime for a new type of entity called a 'credit servicing firm'.  Credit Servicing Firms are now subject to the provisions of Irish financial services law that apply to 'regulated financial service providers'. This ensures that relevant borrowers, whose loans are sold to third parties, maintain the same regulatory protections they had prior to the sale, including under the various statutory codes such as the Consumer Protection Code, Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, and the Code of Conduct for Business Lending to Small and Medium Enterprises. All consumer and relevant SME loans sold by regulated financial institutions are covered by this Act.