‘Stop feeding the vultures’
Campaigner slams Government on housing crisis
VULTURE funds are receiving assistance from the banks and the Government is not stepping in to stop it happening, a housing campaigner has claimed.
David Hall launched a stinging attack when he appeared before the Oireachtas Finance Committee at Leinster House yesterday.
He said vulture funds are driving tens of thousands of people out of their homes.
And he told the Irish Mirror: “The most repeated argument used by vulture fund lovers is so-called ordinary decent mortgage holders are paying for those on mortgage arrears.
“This argument suggests that were Ireland’s mortgage arrears crisis to be resolved via the eviction of 28,000 distressed mortgage holders, kindly banks would swiftly cut their mortgage interest rates.
“Setting aside the moral and practical issues involved in evicting 28,000 families, it is on a superficial level a very logical argument.
“It is also an attractive one for fiscal felon-setters who serve our new troika of banks, the Government and the Central Bank.
“At last a simple scapegoat has been found for our banks’ ongoing greed.
“It should be noted, as in all scapegoating, the weakest minority group are to blame for the suffering of the majority.
“In fact, the claim mortgage arrears are artificially holding up mortgage rates is as scientifically based as the former claim that the earth is flat.
“It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that is based on conjecture and speculation.
“This mortgage arrears fallacy is fiscally illiterate and socially dangerous. It gives a free pass to the unholy troika of banks, the Government and the Central Bank to give vultures a free pass in this State to engage in acts of fiscal cleansing.
“It also avoids one other fundamental truth. When it comes to occasions of sin, it takes two to tango. For sure, borrowers borrowed. But banks, the supposed adults in the relationship, lent. Why should they get away scot free?’’
Mr Hall added the Central Bank position is based on a technical paper published by its economists David Byrne and Robert Kelly examining the quality of bank credit in the euro area.
He said: “The research found distressed loan books hamper banks’ ability to supply credit and keep loan prices low in the light of ECB interest rates.
“The paper says this underlines the importance of resolving bad loans in order to lower loan pricing and improve the functioning of credit supply to Europe’s heavily bank credit -dependent firms.
“Significantly the paper considers the period 2008 to 2014.
“It is, in short, five years out of date.” PROMOTIONS (DVD, CD offers etc): 01 868 8620 RECEPTION: 01 868 8600
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