Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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96. To ask the Minister for Finance if he is aware of claims that the Central Bank of Ireland is turning default and judgment mortgages into derivatives and selling them to investment funds at the behest of the European Central Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6530/16]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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106. To ask the Minister for Finance his efforts to protect mortgage holders from the activities of vulture funds; if the regulatory protections are sufficiently robust; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6562/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 106 together.

The Central Bank of Ireland has informed me that it does not securitise or sell assets of regulated financial service providers and it is prevented from commenting on the commercial decisions of regulated financial service providers.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015 was enacted on 8 July 2015.

The 2015 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.

Furthermore, it is important to highlight 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.