One of the chief lobby groups for the banking sector has defended the controversial and divisive practice of the State's main lenders selling non-performing loans - or NPLs - to so-called vulture funds.

Ulster Bank is expected to sell off more non-performing loans in order to reach a European Central Bank target.

Protections for mortgage holders will dramatically diminish if the sales of non-performing loans to so-called "vulture funds" continues, campaigners have claimed.

A leading mortgage debt advocate at the Free Legal Advice Centres, Flac, has called for a new focus on the link between the housing crisis and the sale of distressed landlord loans to vulture funds.

It may turn out that vulture funds will, indeed, strike the necessary deals with distressed Irish households and write down impossibly underwater mortgages.

Michael McGrath has welcomed the signing into law by the President of a new bill to regulate vulture funds in the New Year saying it will give greater protection to consumers

Businessmen brothers Brian and David Stenson have claimed before the High Court a "vulture fund" has allegedly concocted the wrongful appointment of a receiver over a commercial property they own in Finglas, Co Dublin.

A group representing homeless people has criticised plans for the state to pay market value for homes previously owned by Nama.

The Peter McVerry Trust is warning that hundreds of people are likely to become homeless because of mortgage sales to vulture funds.

The Government has been accused of “washing its hands” of the problem of mortgage arrears after Ulster Bank becomes the latest bank to sell over 5,000 of its non-performing loans to a vulture fund.

Permanent TSB’s sale of family home loans to Lone Star is a disaster, according to the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation (IMHO) who called on the Government to provide alternative solutions to mortgages in long-term arrears.

Permanent TSB has been slammed for “an abject failure to deal with loans” and “taking the easy way out” after selling its Project Glas portfolio of 10,700 homes.

Permanent TSB has confirmed the sale of almost 11,000 non-performing mortgages to a vulture fund.

There has been criticism of Ulster Bank after it became the latest lender to confirm it is selling thousands of mortgages to vulture funds.

Farmers are being urged to effectively boycott the sale of Irish farms by vulture funds.

Update 5.54pm: The Chair of the Oireachtas Finance Committee says Permanent TSB should pass discounts on bad mortgages on to customers.

A fund has secured High Court orders requiring a woman, her ill husband, their son and his partner to leave a Dublin property they do not own but consider to be their family home.

The Campaign for Public Housing began what they call an "occupation of disruption" at Permanent TSB's Grafton Street branch at lunchtime today.

A Fianna Fáil bill to ensure so-called vulture funds come under Irish Central Bank regulations is being debated in the Dáil tonight from 8pm - 10pm.

The regulation of vulture funds to protect distressed mortgage borrowers must proceed quickly, Fianna Fáil has said in advance of a Dail debate on fresh legislation.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has confirmed that he will introduce “additional measures” to deal with unregulated vulture funds that buy up distressed mortgages.

The Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says he wants to see the strongest regulation possible when it comes to vulture funds.

Fianna Fáil has today defended its bid to ensure the full regulation of so-called 'vulture funds'.

Latest: The government should buy some of the non-performing mortgages being sold by banks, according to People Before Profit.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has insisted there is still time to prevent Permanent TSB from selling 20,000 distressed mortgages to vulture funds despite claiming the Government has no legal right to block the deal.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is to discuss demands from Fianna Fáil that vulture funds be regulated after concerns about Permanent TSB selling off 20,000 mortgage loans.

The Government has distanced itself from the sale of tens of thousands of homes to vulture funds.

Pressure being applied by so-called vulture funds on Irish firms to repay loans is resulting in a rise in examinership applications, research indicates.

There have been calls for government intervention over fears that a growing number of farms could come under threat of repossession due to the loans linked to them being bought by so-called vulture funds.

The People Before Profit Anti Austerity Alliance has published legislation, which it says would stop vulture funds from evicting tenants when selling properties.

Two tax rates — of 20% and 25% — will be applied on so-called vulture funds and other overseas investors which bought distressed property and loans after the financial collapse.

There were 822 tax-efficient special purpose vehicles (SPVs), used by so-called ‘vulture funds’ and other investment firms, resident in Ireland with combined asset values of €324bn, as of the end of last year, newly published data from the Central Bank shows.

There may be some good news for borrowers who have had their distressed mortgages sold on to so-called 'vulture funds'.

Vulture funds are using charities to avoid paying tax in Ireland, potentially costing the exchequer up to €20m a week, it has been claimed.

Vulture funds now own the loans of more than a quarter of the country’s most indebted mortgage holders, in long-term arrears of more than two years.