MINISTER FOR MISERY
Donohoe branded a ‘liar’ over sale of mortgages to US firm
PASCHAL Donohoe was last night branded a “liar” and “total bulls ***** r” over his failure to prevent thousands of mortgages being sold to a vulture fund.
The Finance Minister claims he can’t lift a finger to stop the toxic sale of Permanent TSB home loans – even though many of them are performing.
Campaigner David Hall raged: “No company in the world has a 75% majority shareholder who cannot intervene.
“Let’s be honest about it, this is total bulls**t. It’s all lies.”
In a statement last night, a spin doctor for Mr Donohoe said he was “fully briefed on the matter by the bank and his officials”.
But they added: “Loan sales do not require the minister’s consent. In fact, the Relationship Framework specifically
prevents the minister from interfering in actions the bank must take to meet its regulatory requirements.”
The department insists the portfolio sold to US vulture fund Smart Mortgages comprises “loans where there has been non-engagement, the loan is unsustainable, borrowers have been
unable to meet the terms of agreed restructures, or the loan is connected to another non-performing loan”.
But Mr Hall’s Irish Mortgage Holders’ Association claims there are thousands of homeowners who should not have been included in the sale.
They include sick grandmother Marian Cahill, 63, who was featured in yesterday’s
Irish Mirror. Mr Hall said: “It’s all lies and we are getting the documentation together to prove it.
“I always say there is a Croke Park full of people who are going to lose their homes because of this.
“It desensitises and dehumanises when they talk about mortgages instead of the people who are affected.”