Time to act Taoiseach..
LEO Varadkar must intervene to halt the “disgraceful” sale of mortgages to heartless foreign vulture funds, opposition TDS said yesterday.
Mick Barry warned if the Government does not step in the number of homeless, currently at 10,000, could soar.
The Solidarity TD is proposing a State-backed affordable mortgage-torent scheme be introduced without delay to help those at risk.
Senator Rose Conway-walsh said the Government’s silence is indicative of their tacit approval of the banks’ collective behaviour.
She revealed Sinn Fein will be calling the financial bodies before an Oireachtas committee to account for their actions as soon as possible.
And Social Democrats vice chair Carly Bailey, who lost her own family home after it was sold to a vulture fund, blamed Varadkar’s policy failures for the crisis.
The Irish Mirror last week launched a campaign to stop the banks selling as many as 42,000 poor-performing loans to greedy foreign vulture funds.
The calls from politicians come after Ulster Bank became the latest financial institution to abdicate its responsibility to struggling customers.
It announced on Monday it was off-loading more than 5,000 home loans to managers who have little – if any – regard for the plight of Irish families.
The Ulster Bank firesale came hot on the heels of Permanent TSB washing its hands of the trickier loans on its books. It revealed last week it would proceed with the trade of up to 10,000 non-performing mortgages to a US fund.
Mr Barry is critical of the Government for sitting back and letting this happen on their watch.
Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy and the Taoiseach are both on holiday this week but their spokesmen insist they are working nonetheless.
Mr Barry said: “The Government’s refusal to intervene and block the sales is tantamount to them folding their arms and giving the nod to banks to continue.
“This will inevitably push homeless numbers in the State to a level not seen before. Vulture funds are only interested in making as much profit as quickly as possible by selling these properties at higher prices.
“The decision by Ulster Bank, PTSB and KBC to sell them is going to result in more children sleeping in Garda stations.
“Now is the time for action. The Government must introduce a mortgage-to-rent intervention Solidarity’s Mick Barry Senator Rose Conway-walsh Carly Bailey scheme. They have failed the Irish people month in, month out on the housing issue but if they kowtow to the markets and refuse to act on this, it may well be their biggest betrayal yet.”
Ms Conway-walsh said she would be working with her party’s finance spokesman, Pearse Doherty, to bring the banks to Leinster House next month.
She added: “We must remember these are not just financial packages being sold on but they are the biggest financial commitment of most people’s lives.
“Homeowners who have had their mortgages sold on have rights which must be protected and it is the Government who should ensure this happens.
“I am concerned many buy-to-let properties were included in this latest sale which leaves those tenants in a very precarious position through no fault of their own. Together with my colleague, I have consistently looked for these vulture companies to attend the Oireachtas Finance Committee and to answer questions.
“We will again be asking for this to happen as soon as possible.”
Revealing her first-hand experience of losing a home, Ms Bailey said she doesn’t want to see other families having to face the difficulties hers went through.
The Social Democrats vice-chair added: “It’s a disgrace. My own experience of dealing with a vulture fund was very difficult.
“Ulster Bank customers affected by this sale will be frightened and extremely anxious to know what their rights, protections and obligations are and there’s not even a basic helpline for them to turn to for information.
“It’s time to reconsider the definition of a non-cooperating borrower.
“We also need to extend protections for borrowers who find themselves outside of the current protections of