Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)

Even some of the moderate proposals of the expert group on mortgage arrears remain to be implemented, despite the growing numbers of arrears cases. One simple initiative, which could be introduced tomorrow if the Government had the political will to do it, would be to ensure that assessment of housing need should not have to wait for legal proceedings for repossession to be brought against the borrower where a mortgage is clearly unsustainable. Furthermore, a mortgage to rent scheme could be introduced.

My colleagues in Sinn Féin and I have been saying for years that the State's social housing policy was completely flawed. Former Deputy Arthur Morgan, who was then TD for Louth, spoke in 2006 about how the State needed to address issues within housing policy and have a plan to address negative equity, despite the fact that house prices were still rocketing at that time. The establishment parties said we were mad, but look where we are now. People have been left in terrible situations without access to appropriate housing supports, due to difficulties of over-indebtedness and unemployment, which sometimes leads to family breakdown. Families are caught in a horrible situation where they may be in arrears but possibly have a chance in the future to repay their mortgage, but the court is compelled to repossess their homes. They then cannot become eligible for housing supports until their home is ordered as repossessed by the courts. However, the Government still cut the budget available for social housing support on an annual basis.

It is clear that the State must put in place appropriate policies and supports to ensure that those at risk of homelessness, due to over-indebtedness or unsustainable mortgages, have access to supports which would allow them to remain in their homes or access suitable alternative accommodation. This Bill may be a fairly conventional mechanism, but it is merely one of a range of options that should be introduced. It would have some small impact on rebalancing the law where borrowers have no right to appeal to the court to be allowed retain their home.

I do not subscribe to the view that absolutely everyone needs to own their own home. Housing policy in general should be reoriented towards the public provision of social housing; I do not mean the ghetto council housing of the past, but a new and better form of social housing. It is clear that this does not exist at the moment, and Fine Gael and the Labour Party, given their apparent hatred of the State providing any kind of service to people - let alone go so far as to say something like housing is a right - are ideologically prevented from ever bringing in a newer, better, housing policy.

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