Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have read and re-read the motion before the House and I welcome this debate because as Deputy Michael McGrath's motion suggests, no-one has all of the solutions.

All of us should participate in finding a resolution to this issue. While I welcome the sentiment of the motion, I would differ slightly with Deputy Michael McGrath. He referred to the mortgage crisis as the greatest social issue in the country but I would suggest unemployment is in these historic times when the country has been bankrupted and we are at the mercy of English and German taxpayers as we try to keep the day-to-day operation of the State continuing. No one has a monopoly of wisdom on job creation, dealing with mortgage arrears or stopping emigration. For that reason, we should tease everything out.

The mortgage crisis is unprecedented because it has never happened before during our independence from the British Empire. We now deal with issues as independent parliamentarians and we can no longer blame Cromwell, the Vikings or the Normans. We must take responsibility ourselves for what happened. We also have to take responsibility for the solutions to these issues.

The mortgage crisis comes in different levels. Both sides of the House have cited how mortgage arrears affect people not only physically but psychologically. As working politicians, all of us will have dealt with people affected. Every Member, unfortunately, will know of individuals who had to voluntarily surrender their home because of arrears. That is not an easy course of action, particularly if there are children in the household. It can be a difficult and traumatic experience. Unfortunately, I have had to deal with a few of these cases.

While not trying to be partisan but with some sense of pride as a Government supporter, it must be acknowledged that there have been no evictions from homes. This is a good point given the state in which the country is. I have put this point to some of the other free bird Members who claim we do not hear about evictions. If evictions were taking place, there are sections of the Opposition who would let us know about it every day of the week. I have listened to some Opposition Members use the word “eviction” with glee because it conjures up an image from our history. I can only conclude that they are not interested in solving the issue of mortgage arrears. Using terms like “eviction”, it would seem they would like evictions to happen to make some political gain. Until they actually see a re-enactment of the Derryveagh evictions of 1861 when families were thrown out of their homes on to the roadside, they will not be happy. It goes back to my point about people being careful about their language and accepting matters as they are. We should not see anyone evicted from their homes. I am not diminishing my responsibility or the Government’s but we should not wish for evictions to make some political gain.

There are many issues that need to be solved. The mortgage crisis, as cited in Deputy Michael McGrath’s motion, has to be faced up to. It is important that all the agencies and different solutions referred to in the motion are addressed. Hopefully, we will not see families losing their homes. Such losses are what we must aspire to prevent. It is a long road we are on in resolving the mortgage crisis. While I do not agree with some parts of the motion, I acknowledge that no one has a monopoly of wisdom in dealing with this unprecedented crisis in the history of this independent State.

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