Seller's Legal Pack: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-27
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Joe Conway (IND), Cultural and Educational Panel

I express my support for Senator McCarthy's motion. Anything in this very troubled business of buying and selling property that streamlines it or makes the whole engagement more efficient and leaner is to be recommended. This is what we are talking about here. I do not see any direct contradiction between the amendment and the motion. They are both pushing at a door they want to open. This is illustrated by a personal experience I had. I came into possession of a property prior to the crash which was financed by a Bank of Scotland mortgage. Then, of course, the crash came and two years after the crash Bank of Scotland hightailed it out of the country in 2010. Eight years later, in 2018, when the jigs and reels were finished, a crowd called Pepper Asset Servicing DAC took over the mortgage. To make a long story even longer, a few years back we decided to turn over the house. We went to the solicitor, who said he would look for the deeds from Pepper. When he went looking for the deeds from Pepper there were no deeds. Try as he might, he was told it did not have them and they were never sent to it. This started a long harangue between the solicitor and Pepper. There was no resolution. I had to go to an architect to get a new certificate of compliance, which cost me a lot of money, simply because Pepper had screwed up on maintaining the deeds of the house.
Afterwards, when I tried to recoup some of my expenses for the architect and the legal people, it was like the shadow that comes about when there is an eclipse of the sun. I think it is called a penumbra. Boy, was there a penumbra trying to get money back from Pepper. If there are any sad people around the country looking at this debate tonight who have had dealings with Pepper, please get in touch with me because I would love to compile a dossier. My solicitor said he had never seen a company the likes of it and I know this is universally and widely acclaimed. This is the sort of thing that can beset somebody in the buying and selling business. It is very difficult and very trying. I am a fairly cool individual and it did not really get to me but I know some people go cracked over these things. It brings a lot of domestic pressure. I am delighted Senator McCarthy has brought forward this motion, very doughtily supported by Senators Craughwell and Boyhan, and I wanted to weigh in. We are all on the one side. We are trying to make it easier for people and I do not think it should be a point-scoring business for the Government or us. Let us do the right thing for the hard-pressed buyers and sellers in the Irish market.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:33+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-27