Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It is a very emotive and serious issue. The dreadful fear and worry of being in a position where one may lose the family home is very hard to define. One almost has to be there to understand how serious it is. We must be careful, however, about any solutions we reach relating to very different times. A unique situation occurred in this country that caused this problem to occur on such a large scale. Any solution we put in place must be one that works for the future, not just the specific problems we have at the moment. We could create an uneven playing field in the future if we get this wrong. The cost of future mortgages could increase as banks or other lending institutions sought to protect themselves against the risk of default and court-defined settlements.

It is important to define what is a family home. Some people believe that what is necessary in a family home is a palatial mansion while others consider a standard house to be adequate to meet their needs. When we refer to keeping a person in a family home, we must look at what we are asking for and what is the definition of that. For most reasonable people, that should not be an issue, but there are cases with which we are all familiar where it is contended otherwise.

As Deputy Michael McGrath said, there must be a commitment from both parties to a loan. As the Minister has said, some institutions need to move a little further than others. Others have done quite well. There was a lack of expertise in the early days and as banks were trying to sort out their own messes, they were not in a position to sort out everyone else's. That has moved swiftly. I have dealt with many cases and can say that certain institutions have done very well, which needs to be recognised.

Shortfalls in repayments were mentioned. If a repayment is €1,500 per month and there is a shortfall of €1,400 per month, it is quite a shortfall. Practicality needs to come into play here. We need to define what constitutes a shortfall in payment and what people can afford. Rebalancing the arrangement was mentioned by Deputy Michael McGrath and the Minister put her finger on it when she said it needs to be a measured balance. We cannot rebalance it so that the scales tilt completely to one side. We need to be very careful here as we do not want property rights in other sectors to be affected by a precedent in this area. It is very easy to say something populist but this is a serious situation where we need to be careful.

I am all for sustainable mortgage arrangements. It is only this week that three separate people arrived into my constituency office who wanted sustainable mortgage arrangements. Other Deputies will have seen the same at their offices. Section 9(2) of the Bill refers to principal write off as one of the solutions. That is not something we should do.

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