Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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1525.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will update legislation in terms of vulture fund repossession of homes and, more immediately, order a complete cessation of any possession proceedings in the interim period, given recent High Court rulings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31993/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Part 10 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 (‘the 2009 Act’) sets out the powers, rights and obligations in respect of all housing loan mortgages (legal and equitable) created by deed after the commencement of the 2009 Act.

Section 97 of the 2009 Act provides that a mortgagee shall not take possession of a mortgaged property secured by a housing loan mortgage without a court order unless the mortgagor consents in writing not more than seven days prior to the mortgagee taking possession.

The application for an order for possession is made pursuant to section 62(7) of the Registration of Title Act 1964 (as applied by section 1 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013). The first proof to be established by the moving party in an application under section 62(7)of the Registration of Title Act 1964 is that they are the registered owner of the charge. The Registration of Title Act 1964 is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Regarding the activities of non-bank entities, these are regulated by the Central Bank in Ireland under the provisions of the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015 as amended, and are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Finance.

As the Deputy will be aware, I cannot comment on cases which are before the Courts. However, it should be noted that a number of safeguards have been put in place by Government for persons at risk of losing their homes due to mortgage arrears including the introduction of the Personal Insolvency Acts and the establishment of the Insolvency Service of Ireland.

In particular, section 115A of the Personal Insolvency Acts introduced a right for borrowers to seek a review by a court, if their mortgage lender or other creditors refused a reasonable proposal for a Personal Insolvency Arrangement which included debt on the borrower’s principal private residence. In 2016, the Abhaile scheme was also established to provide access to free legal and financial advice to those at risk of losing their homes due to mortgage arrears.

Finally, the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform (Amendment) Act 2019 introduced increased protection for borrowers by broadening the range of matters that a court must take into account when deciding whether to grant a possession order to a lending institution in respect of a borrower’s principal private residence.