Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

These amendments have been tabled to address the concerns of the Opposition - I do not speak for the Opposition as a whole - and the real and genuine concerns of the people. When I speak about home owners, I refer not only to those who hold mortgages, but to their family members. When I speak about small and medium sized enterprises, I refer not only to managers and owners, but also to employees. I am trying to address the genuine and real concerns of working teams that comprise a considerable number of people. I acknowledge that the Minister's amendment, which allows him to intervene, is great. We do not know whether he will intervene, which is the real question. We do not know the extent to which he will or may intervene. We have not had sight of a draft of the Minister's guidelines or code, which makes it very difficult for us. To be truthful, I regard the passage of this Bill to date as having taken a rather crooked path. I refer particularly to the introduction of the SPV. The Minister will not be surprised to learn that I feel, to borrow a phrase used by Deputy Bruton earlier in this debate, that if we are to believe what he is saying, we need to put our fingers into the holes in his hands and our fists into the holes in his sides. Deputy Rabbitte said earlier that many examples of absolutely viable enterprises have been given. Deputy Rabbitte stated that many examples have been given. Every Member of the House will have had representations from affected businesspeople in recent months. They are desperate to hold on to extremely viable businesses but cannot do so because of the lack of funding. That is how serious circumstances are for them. They and their families face unemployment and all the associated hardship and torment. 4 o'clock

The group of amendments attempts to deal with the issues that arise for homeowners. Unfortunately the Minister is telling us again he has concerns about these issues and that he acknowledges them. However, I do not seen any practical step in the legislation to do anything about home repossession, which is unfair.

The Minister gave the example of a member of the public in Deputy Flanagan's constituency talking to him about what we have been calling "NAMA for ordinary people". There still is no NAMA for ordinary people in the legislation, nor is there any prospect of it. Therefore, I will press my amendment. It is the only dependable way to try to deal with these matters.

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