Mattie McGrath: Condemns 'Vulture Funds' and Demands Amendment

First of all, I am very concerned about the lack of time and hour for this debate. I moved the amendment. You moved the amendment. The amendment one has been formally moved. Go ahead. Thank you. I am really concerned. I know that there is a big event taking place, but that does not give the impunity to the government to enact this bill with such a decent haste, without teasing out the many, matters. And this amendment that we have here today, I believe, is so important. So, so important. Because Minister, former Minister, Minister Michael Noon, invited the Vulture Funds in here. It is high time now that someone disinvited or uninvited them or sent them home. Because they have caused plunder and pillage. The old song here going back, plunder and pillage, you know, in Van Diemen's land. This is unbelievable what they have got away with here at that time. They should never have been here. I use the Paralance and I hate using it because it's really, it's cruel, as I'm a sheep farmer or my son is. And when little lambs have been born, the grey crows and the vultures come down and take their tongues and take their eyes savagely. So the vulture, the very word vulture, is an anatoma to any right thinking person. They are not interested in supporting the Irish people. They are not interested in supporting anything else. And I can't understand why your government will not put, except, and I hope you'll accept this amendment, but I have my doubts, to ensure that they are some bit of respect and manners, and indeed, common decency put in around the rules of engagement. Every taxpayer, every citizen in this country has to do tax returns. The vulture funds are immune from all of this. And why should they be? And I mean, the people out there, their dreams are being shattered by what has happened to them. They borrow in good faith, to house themselves, to buy maybe a little bit of land, to go into business. Which is what we need, entrepreneurs and people who, the enablers will house themselves, not put the law of aid looking for help. They want to do for themselves and their families, and provide a roof over their head, and to be then sold off the pillar banks and other banks that had them, you could name all the banks, send them off the vulture funds, for a fraction of what the people wanted, in many cases, wanted to pay themselves, but that's unceremoniously disposed of. And then there's the mercy of the vultures. And the land registry here, Minister, across the river, the land registry is totally and completely inept and out of order here, in dealing with the proper ownership of the title of most of the places. 99% or 90% of the places, of the homes, farms and businesses that have been repossessed, land registry, were online. And people are going into courts on behalf of the vulture funds, barristers, and waving a piece of paper at the eminent justices. And the justices aren't asking them, is this legal? Because it's not legal. I can quote from Ed Honahan, the well-respected, highly respected former master of the High Court. And I want to welcome Theo Macdonald here today, who did a wonderful analysis on this issue here, and produced the Macdonald report. So you don't want to hear that either, Minister. But look, I'm very disappointed you're a new Minister, and as I said, understanding the vulture funds and credit services. Vulture funds are investment entities that purchase distressed debt at a discount, often from struggling companies or individuals. They didn't seek to profit by collecting the full value of the debt, sometimes too aggressive and unethical tactics. Credit services are intermediaries and manage these debts. So there's no mercy out there. And there's no mercy in the courts. I have yet to see one or two, or maybe a couple of judgments, that have delayed these masterless vulture funds, as I said. And one of the points that we have very strong in these amendments is that the tax evasion. The vulture funds often use credit services to avoid paying taxes. By operating through these intermediaries, they can shift profits offshore and minimise their tax liabilities. This deprives our country of much-needed revenue that could be used for public services that we so badly need. And I can't understand how you have the soul doing to the closed eyes to this, now since the crash in 2009, and why you haven't called them to book? Or why? How are you beholding to them? And then there's a cosy cartel there of consultancy firms, and they use many of these consultancy firms for every kind of report and investigation. And those same consultancy firms and accountants are advising these, as I said, masterless vulture funds how to get around the tax loopholes here. So you're all in it together. But the people of Ireland, the ordinary people, the men of 1916 and 1921 and 1922 and 1924, to have our democracy here, are being abandoned, have been abandoned, and people's lives have been lost. So many people have ended up taking their own lives. So many families destroyed. So many marriage breakups. So much ill health and mental health. It's unbelievable. And you're hearing it as well. Cock the law. You have to be. And you're backbenchers. Yet you come in here and let him off scot-free. It's just grossly immoral, unethical and unfair to allow these vulture funds to operate with this impunity. And I want to thank you for doing the research and policy here, and help from Ed Hone and others, and bringing in a context related man, his sporting prowess recently, and also his financial achievements in education quite recently. So as I said, the aggressive tactics that vulture funds are known for the aggressive tactics in collecting debts, they often target vulnerable borrowers using legal threats and other pressure tactics to exact payments. This can lead to, as I said, significant financial and emotional distress, and taking the children. And then we've seen many cases, Minister. You weren't Minister of Finance, but you've seen many cases where they have mercenaries from other countries come in here to inflict and carry out evictions with no proper legal work. And we've seen their vehicles being parked in Belgrade station. We've seen what happened in Roscommon. We've seen all over the country. These people have no business in this country. They're not even registered security people. And it caused them bedlam, causing injury, and causing, as I said, perishment. We thought we got rid of those tactics when we got rid of the aggressive regime that was here for so many hundreds of years. The economic aspect, then, is totally unchecked. The operation of the Vulture Funds can have a broader economic impact by following on short-term profits. They can destabilise companies and economies, creating job losses and economic stability. It's as clear as the nose in your face that that can happen. And, you know what I mean, it's just as big as believe. A real-life example, let us look at some real-life examples to understand the human impact. And a human impact must, to every elected Doctor Dolly here and Senator, must be what we're all about, human and humanity. And if we can't, the practices are awful. Pepper finance, for instance, is one of the most notorious credit services in Ireland. In Ireland, it has been involved in several high-profile cases where borrowers have been charged extra-abitant interest rates. For instance, a couple of in Cork sued Pepper finances over an excessive interest rate of 8.5% on their mortgage, which was significantly higher than the rate they would have paid if their loan had remained with the original lender. And why can you or I do a loan? I, in business, have signed many an agreement for purchase of vehicles. And we need finance houses to support business. But if you sign an agreement with some institution, surely you can't practice with them. There's not sold on and on and on to these messiness vulture funds. Messiness vulture funds. Who are here to make profits. And massive profits. And don't care about the collateral damage. So, as I said, that's one case. There are many, many other cases. As I said, around 100,000 mortgages in Ireland have been sold to vulture funds, leaving families and, indeed, sometimes extended families in awful situations. Borrowers are trapped in high-interest loans with little resource. These mortgage prisoners are often unable to refinance to such or more favourable terms, leading to financial hardship. 70,000 people have mortgages, of which 100,000 are with vulture funds. 700,000, sorry. 200,000 are with vulture funds. So, that is an enormous amount to be with vulture funds. So, look, it's time we got rid of them. We have a golden opportunity in the last hours of this dying doll, what the election is called, to do something meaningful for the people out there who are many of them the enablers, who provide employment, who set up their own businesses, took a punt, took a gamble. We need those people to take a gamble. And they haven't all cosy positions in public service. They did. And then the others have tried to house themselves and borrow it and have been badly, badly, badly stung. And they are denied and they are on the credit bureau then and they can't get any finance from any source because they are on the credit bureau, as I said. And I said the regulatory gaps, there are significant gaps in the regulatory framework that allow vulture funds and their credit services to operate with minimal oversight. The lack of stringent regulations and the enforcement has enabled these entities to exploit borrowers and avoid accountability. That is shocking. And I would mind this if it was in 2010 and we found out. But now it is 2024. And they are still exploiting the gaps. They are still using every kind of illegal loophole, whether they are legal or some are illegal, as they were the land registry. So the economic policies and the government policies have often favoured financial institutions and investment funds over ordinary citizens. How can that be right in our land, so-called land of milk and honey? Irish citizens should and must, and it is our duty here as Tochtidale, a messenger of the people, to serve our Irish people and not be cow-town to vulture funds who have no interest. They will be gone like snow of a ditch from this country when they have reaped all their gains, reaped all their, you know, blood money in many cases, as I said, because it is taken wrong. As I said, there are so many undertakings and they must be sorted out. As I said, the guidance notes refer to collective investment, such as the UCIT, by inserting a definition for the investment undertaking that fills this conflict. So, as I said, it is plain, plain and simple. It is beyond time that we do, as I said, call them to book and try and save more lives, try and save more families and try and cut out the cost to our health service because of the illness and of the very, as I said, depraved manner in which the vulture funds operate. And it begs the belief that you could be advised and your advisers were here again, and as I said, some of the big finance officers in this country are insisting that you keep this policy. And they are also then, on the other hand, working for these vulture funds. So that is totally wrong, totally reprehensible, and the citizen is way down the food chain, is last at the borrower, as I said, whether they be householders or whether they are business people. I know you have much time, Les Cancola, but I could say an awful lot more. But the message is simple. The message is simple. Please accept this amendment. And as I said, at this latter-day stage, when horses bolted many, many years ago, please, for the sake of the future generations of families, please accept this amendment and try and bring some order to this Wild West that has been allowed to operate here in dealing with finances. No other sector, as I said, a business person or whatever can operate without being under the strict regime of revenue and taxation laws. Why should we allow these people to get off scot-free? Goed maagood. That's not good.