Clarity, not silence, is needed over sell-off

THE Department of Finance was adamant at the beginning of this week that Minister Paschal Donohoe’s permission was not required to facilitate the sale of some 20,000 mortgaged homes to a vulture fund. The minister finally broke cover yesterday on RTÉ radio, emerging to reassure all that he would re-examine the legislation in place to guard against mass repossessions.

For good measure he added that he recognised the concern expressed over the sale. “The legal framework that we have had in place has been successful in staving off the kind of repossessions that many feared would happen,” he said. But the situation is changing rapidly and the Government will find scant political cover in hiding behind an excuse that the Central Bank has ordered lenders to reduce non-performing loans.

The banks must be stable, that is accepted. But most people will also expect that the interests of mortgage holders will be respected and protected to the same degree as that afforded to our cherished bailed-out banks.

Yesterday, Master of the High Court Edmund Honohan said people in his court, on a daily basis, were struggling to stave off repossession. He further called on the Government to formulate a reasonable policy to cope with the expected wave of repossessions. He also suggested that if community funding might be found, then co-op housing could be a way forward. This may or may not be an answer; but at least it addresses the human factor.

Earlier this week there was a warning that distressed mortgages could be the “new water charges”. It should be heeded. The Government would be foolish to think it can distance itself from this issue. Clarity and coherence are needed, not a sense of helplessness or a retreat into silence.