A hard-pressed homeowner has told an Oireachtas committee of his experience at the hands of a so-called vulture fund.
"My mortgage has gone up over €700 in eight months, with no end in sight," said Jimmy Byrne, a father-of-two, who has worked as a driver with Dublin Bus for two decades.
He and his wife bought a house in 2006, which they re-mortgaged the following year with PTSB, bringing the loan to €350,000.
Following the financial collapse, they got a split mortgage and warehoused €197,000.
They have reduced that amount by two thirds, leaving €66,000 now warehoused, and have been making "full payments on the remaining €273,000".
Despite this, Mr Byrne told the Joint Committee on Finance, "someone in PTSB judged that as a non-preforming loan".
"By the time we received notification it was already a done deal," he recounted.
Mr Byrne said the vulture fund, Pepper, took over the mortgage, and refused to fix the interest rate.
He and his wife are currently paying 7.5% interest on their repayments. This does not include the latest interest rate hike.
He told the committee that he has to submit forms detailing household spending, along with pension documents "as proof that I can pay off the mortgage".
"I'm not in arrears, I'm not in any trouble," he said. "But you can see what's coming down the tracks.
"There's only so much money that comes in. I'm out of options except one, and that’s default, or some form of insolvency.
"We’re not running away from our responsibilities, we're not looking for special treatment. We are just looking for fairness ... to a fix rate at a reasonable rate."
Mr Byrne said and his wife have tried to switch lenders, but have been unable to do so, partly because they have a split mortgage.
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said that Mr Byrne's case was just one brave example of a "mortgage prisoner".
These people have been "sold to the vulture funds" and are "unable to escape their claws".
Mr Doherty also recalled how a bill he had tabled, which would have prevented loans being sold to so-called vulture funds without consent, had been blocked.
