TD walks out after Michael Noonan called ‘vulture lover’

A Government TD walked out of the Oireachtas Housing and Homelessness Committee on Tuesday after a speaker referred to Minister for Finance Michael Noonan as a "vulture lover".

David Hall, chief executive of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, addressing the committee on mortgage arrears, said up to 30,000 households in long-term arrears faced homelessness. He said Mr Noonan "falls into the vulture-lover category".

Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Ruth Coppinger asked Mr Hall for his view of the Minister's attitude to 'vulture funds'.

She referred to the Minister’s comments at the committee last week, when he said: “Vultures carry out a very good service to the ecology by clearing up the dead animals”.

Ms Coppinger said this was an insult to actual vultures which did a good job in clearing dead carcasses, given that vulture funds were dealing with “people who are actually alive”.

Mr Hall said he had had a “face to face conversation with the Minister” on May 2nd.

“It was very, very clear that Mr Noonan falls into the vulture-lover category. He was very clear about his love for vultures. We had a very robust exchange in relation to it...the self-confessed predators. They circulate for five years, they suck an asset dry and they move on. “

Bernard Durkan (Fine Gael) objected, saying he wanted the comment about Mr Noonan corrected.

“The Minister has given no indication to that effect at all,” he said.

‘Besmirches’

Mr Durkan said it would be wrong to come to a conclusion which "besmirches" the reputation of Mr Noonan. Catherine Byrne (Fine Gael) said it was "wrong" that someone would come before the committee and make "accusations".

As chairman John Curran (Fianna Fáil) moved to say the committee was not coming to any conclusion, Ms Byrne shook her head, got up and walked out.

Mr Hall said his big concern would be the emergence of “super vultures” who would buy multiple loan books from vulture funds which had already “sucked what they could”, from mortgage portfolios.

Mortgage arrears had the potential to dwarf the current homelessness crisis, he said and could be a “human disaster”.

He called for all lending institutions to be compelled to offer mortgage-to-rent and split-mortgage solutions.

The Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) also said up to 30,000 households in long-term mortgage arrears faced homelessness. While some repossessions were inevitable, said senior policy analyst Paul Joyce, the "playing field is becoming uneven between borrowers and lender".

He called for an overhaul of the mortgage-to-rent scheme and a legal the right to housing and .

The committee also heard from the Residential Tenancies Board and the Insolvency Service of Ireland. Its hearings resume on Thursday.