Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2015
190. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if he will report on discussions held with a company (details supplied), regarding the purchase of non-performing Permanent TSB home loans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8804/15]
View answer191. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Finance if he will report on the discussions held regarding the sale of Permanent TSB home loans; and if he will impose restrictions on the buyer of Permanent TSB home loans, to ensure that mortgage holders are provided the protection of Irish regulations and the code of conduct on mortgage arrears. [8805/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 190 and 191 together.
I have been informed that officials in my Department have met representatives of the company (details supplied) in total on four occasions. On three of these occasions the meetings were between Department of Finance officials and representatives of the company (details supplied). On a fourth occasion the meeting was attended by Regina Doherty TD and representatives of the company (details supplied).
Discussions centred around a proposal to buy non-performing loans from Irish banks but no specific proposals were discussed in relation to individual banks operating in Ireland, including Permanent TSB.
Separately, PTSB has advised me that it is not currently in a sales process in respect of the sale of 5,000 non-performing home loans as speculated in one newspaper recently.
I would also like to add that on 14 January 2015 the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Bill was published. The primary purpose of this Bill is to protect consumers whose loans are sold to unregulated entities. Credit servicing firms will require authorisation from the Central Bank and will be regulated by the Central Bank. All borrowers will have access to the Financial Services Ombudsman complaints procedure regarding treatment by credit servicing firms. This important piece of legislation will ensure that borrowers whose loans are sold by a regulated entity to a currently unregulated entity maintain the same protections as they had prior to the sale. The protections will apply to all consumers regardless of when the loans were drawn down, thus providing complete certainty to all customers. Subject to the legislative programme, the Bill will go through the Houses of the Oireachtas shortly.
