The O'Donovan family in Clonakilty has been in business for seven generations. Tom and Dena O'Donovan have been in business for 44 years running a viable seventh-generation town-centre hotel with 21 bedrooms and two apartments, employing 70 people in the heart of Clonakilty. In 2007, they took out a business loan with AIB under a 30-year repayment plan. Several months later, Ireland had a bank meltdown and AIB hit the O'Donovans with changes to their repayment plan, reducing it from 30 years to 12 years. There were no negotiations whatsoever. Obviously, the O'Donovans objected, but AIB railroaded ahead with the restructuring and a suggested five-year review. The O'Donovans sold family property to assist with the restructuring and continued to pay the new sum. Astonishingly, the O'Donovans discovered that, unknown to them, their loan had been sold to a vulture fund, Everyday Finance. AIB then closed their bank account in Clonakilty and transferred the account to Fermoy, taking it from ten doors away to 90 km away. In anyone's view, this was to stop the O'Donovans from engaging with the local bank.

As far as I know, by law a bank can only sell on a performing loan to a third party that offers the same facility. AIB did not do this. The O'Donovans tried to engage with Everyday Finance but it made it clear that it is not interested in piecemeal repayments, only large lump sums. At one stage it suggested throwing a few million up on the table. As the O'Donovans are unable to get a figure for what they now owe Everyday Finance, their accountant advised the family to make no further repayments. In all this time, no communication has been forthcoming. The O'Donovans are led to believe that their loan was purchased for approximately €365,000. To try to start engagement with Everyday Finance, the O'Donovans offered €800,000. That was well over double what the loan was bought for. While this was rejected by Everyday Finance and subsequent increased offers have been rejected, no gesture to engage has been afforded to the O'Donovan family other than the rejection of their offers one after another.

In 2022, a receiver was appointed. In all this, the O'Donovans' only crime was that they owed too little and that their property is valued at little more than they owe. Their bad luck was to trust AIB and to enter into a business agreement with it, which AIB broke. Since I raised this question with the Tánaiste 20 days ago, both the O'Donovan family and I have been flooded with similar reports from businesses and individuals who have been treated shockingly and illegally by the banks and vulture funds. We have no proper independent regulatory body for these people to turn to when they are being illegally treated. Banks and vulture funds can railroad all over a person's life without batting an eyelid. I ask the Minister to appoint a proper regulatory body immediately. I also ask him as a Minister in a Government that has a major shareholding in AIB to launch an immediate investigation into how the family have been treated by AIB and Everyday Finance. To hear for himself the pain this hugely popular family in Clonakilty are going through, will he meet with the O'Donovan family to discuss this matter?

First of all, I have huge sympathy for the O’Donovan family and businesspeople who find themselves in the kind of financial pressure they are clearly feeling at the moment. Every bank in Ireland has an obligation, in my view, to behave fairly towards its clients. When we hear slogans like "We're backing brave" and all the rest of them coming from advertisements for banking in Ireland, it is not unreasonable that questions are raised as to whether they are supporting enterprise in an appropriate way. It is not appropriate for me to start getting involved in an individual case on the floor of this House when I do not know the full detail in terms of what happened. When loan books are sold on there is a responsibility, of course, on the regulator, which is the Central Bank of Ireland, to ensure consumers are given the protections that are expected. I simply do not know whether those rules were fully followed in this case. If the Deputy sends me on the details, I can look to inquire further.

I know the Deputy's constituency quite well. I know many of the business families there. It is a little unreasonable for the Deputy to raise this issue on the floor of the Dáil and expect a detailed answer from me without actually knowing the detail. There are legal questions and financial viability questions here. Of course, there are banking regulatory obligations as well. We probably need to have a look at the detail of what happened here to be able to give a more informed answer than I can give off the top of my head on the floor of this House.

Similar to the Tánaiste, with whom I raised this question, the Minister's office was notified three weeks ago about this issue directly from the O'Donovan family. That is fair enough; the Minister is busy, and I respect that. I would appreciate if he might have a look at it, however.

Exactly 20 days ago in this Chamber during Leaders' Questions, I asked the Tánaiste the same question I have asked the Minister today. I asked him as Tánaiste and as leader of Fianna Fáil to meet the O'Donovans in Clonakilty. Even though he said he would meet them, no matter how the O'Donovans or I have tried to contact him for this meeting since, he has not replied. He still has time to do so but if he does not, the people of Clonakilty and west Cork will have a dim view of him and his party. Too many livelihoods depend on the O'Donovan family in Clonakilty. They are an honest, straight, hardworking family who have been in business for seven generations and 44 years. The word here is "honest". Their hearts and souls have been broken by what the vulture funds and the banks have done. The Government cannot keep turning its back and saying it does not know the details. The Minister can sit down with them. He can sit down with representatives from AIB and the vulture funds. They are not stopping him from talking to anybody on this issue. I plead with the Minister to do so. The Government is the State's largest shareholder in our banks. Having directors on the AIB board, it cannot turn its back on the O'Donovans' successful business. The Minister can call for an investigation. I ask him to use every mechanism to broker a solution to appease all parties on this issue. Will he meet with that family?

I am the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I have responsibility to try to ensure that businesses are treated fairly and that enterprise has an opportunity to thrive and grow. That includes the relationship, obviously, with the banking sector. I will be happy to get more detail. I do not recall getting the details of this. Maybe that correspondence came into my constituency office. I certainly have not seen it. I was given only a few days' notice that I was doing Leaders' Questions today. I did not know the Deputy would be raising this issue. If it is helpful, I would be happy to meet the family. We can schedule that. I do not want to promise the world, though. Government Ministers do not control banks, and they should not. I assume AIB has sold on this loan and, therefore, has no more control or attachment to it if it is with Everyday Finance. That is probably a legal reality. It is important that we do not make claims we cannot follow up on. I will meet a representative from the O'Donovan family if the Deputy thinks that would be helpful, and I will go through their case in more detail with them.

I thank the Minister. That concludes Leaders' Questions.