Eamon Quinn: Ireland's broken housing and banking markets were outsourced to the vultures

Not only are the funds outbidding Irish families seeking homes, they are already deeply embedded in every street in the country

The week started with housing minister Darragh O’Brien insisting that a sovereign government could in no way legislate to plug a loophole that allowed a recently-arrived investment fund, or vulture fund, to build and rent out new houses in residential streets in a Co Kildare town.

The homes would be rented out for 20 to 25 years and, in the midst of the worst housing crisis in the history of the State, would entail little risk for its foreign clients.