Former FINE GAEL Finance Minister Michael Noonan stated that, “vultures carry out a very good service in the ecology; they clean up dead animals that are littered across the landscape,” in defence of the role of vulture funds in the Irish economy during the financial crisis. He defended this comparison by suggesting that the funds were helping to clear up the “carcass” of the collapsed Irish economy, including distressed property loans.

• Ecological Analogy: In May 2016, at an Oireachtas Committee on Housing and Homelessness hearing, Noonan made the controversial statement that vulture funds performed a useful ecological function by cleaning up “dead animals” or “carrion”. This was widely criticised by opposition politicians and advocacy groups, who argued the analogy was insensitive to the living people affected by the sale of distressed mortgages.
• Meetings: The Department of Finance under Noonan held numerous meetings with private investment firms (including vulture funds), with sources reporting as many as 65 meetings in 2013-2014 alone. This led to accusations from the opposition that the government was “rolling out the red carpet” for these funds.