On the eve of the deadline for final bids on the IBRC mortgage book, the Fianna Fáil Finance Spokesperson Michael McGrath has called on the government to intervene to ensure that the 13,000 mortgage holders are fully protected when their mortgages are sold on by the Special Liquidator KPMG.

The deadline for the submission of final bids on the IBRC mortgage book to the Special Liquidator is tomorrow, 14th March.

Deputy McGrath said: "Last week, the government supported at second stage a Fianna Fáil Private Members' Bill designed to ensure that the mortgage holders would continue to retain vital statutory protections if their mortgage is sold on to an unregulated fund. However, the government has no intention of legislating on this issue anytime soon and has shown scant regard for the plight of 13,000 IBRC mortgage holders.

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"It now seems quite likely that the IBRC mortgages will be sold to a US fund which is unregulated in Ireland. This leaves the mortgage holders is a very vulnerable position. Without the statutory backing of the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, the fund would be perfectly within its legal rights to demand full repayment and initiate legal proceedings on a mortgage holder that misses one repayment. Voluntary compliance has no legal standing and is utterly unenforceable.

"While the government believes it is horrendously complex to legislation to protect mortgage holders, it had no problem in passing emergency legislation overnight to appoint a liquidator to a bank with assets worth €12 billion. I do not for a moment believe it is beyond the capacity of the legislature to deal with the plight that mortgage holders are now facing. The sad truth is that the political will is not there on the part of government to deal with this."

(CD/MH)