Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

Like Deputy Buttimer, I think home ownership is linked to our history. We can go back to the landless tenants dispossessed during plantations and at the mercy of unscrupulous landlords. The 19th century saw the land campaigns for the three F's that are still relevant today, fair rent, free sale and fixity of tenure. This led to the Land Acts, whereby tenants could buy their holdings. I can understand why the tradition of people buying their homes has developed from our history, unlike another countries where the tradition is to rent. In the 20th century, there was a tradition of saving in order to buy a house. People had to save significant deposits and banks put difficulties in front of people before they bought houses. Maybe it was better advice at the time. We are now in a different situation. We can see a variety of circumstances that led to this.

There was massive building of apartments and houses during the so-called Celtic tiger. Some of them were totally unsuitable, of which Priory Hall is just one example. Banks threw money at people, offering 100% mortgages in many cases without taking into account the ability of the borrower to repay. The media fuelled the idea that people had to get into the property market or they would miss it completely. The result is that people have impossible mortgages. Deputy Donnelly has done a great service to the ordinary individual, who sometimes gets lost in the legalese. The Bill is based on common sense, which we do not see enough of here, and I hope it prevails.

What does repossession achieve? Every effort must be made to prevent it. Judges must be able to take matters into account when making decisions on repossession. Figures of one in 12 are startling, although that indicates that many are not in arrears. The difficulty is that the number is likely to increase. In the past number of days we talked about health and the Independent group tabled a motion on mental health. We know the effect of repossession and difficulties with mortgages on people and families. Parents will try to protect children but children pick up on difficulties at home. Schools see the effect of difficulties paying bills and mortgages on young people. If repossessions continue, they will have a negative impact on the capitalisation levels of the so-called pillar banks, as pointed out by Deputy Donnelly. He also referred to the constitutional aspect and I cannot understand why the Minister believes there are constitutional difficulties. Surely the Constitution is there to protect the person, not the other way around.

There is a responsibility on the borrower to repay what he or she has borrowed. People ask why we should help those who took out money irresponsibly but there were extenuating circumstances. Many took out a mortgage on the basis of the job they had and, through no fault of their own, they lost the job and the ability to repay the mortgage. Deputy Donnelly is addressing that situation in this Bill in giving judges more discretion than they had to date.

I acknowledge the work of New Beginning, which has been very practical and has been to the fore in helping people in a real way. Returning to history, de Valera stopped paying the land annuities. The money did not return to the people but perhaps there is a message for us in that. New Beginning made the point about the Bank of Scotland, which was here in the good times and made loans available. As the song says, when the going got tough, it hightailed it out of here. Where is our responsibility to Bank of Scotland? It did not set the best example for other banks.

What is the point of Friday sittings if anything suggested on this side of the House is automatically turned down by the Government? On issues that are so real and relevant to people, there should be a collaborative effort rather than an automatic proposition and opposition.

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