Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I presume Mr. Duffy understands that there are a lot of circumstances where people have made a conscious decision not to pay their mortgage arrears because, as several speakers have said, they cannot pay them. They have money for other things. They have to pay their property taxes and next year they will have to pay water tax. They have to pay for their own medical expenses. They say, quite rightly, "I will not pay my mortgage arrears this month". What is Mr. Duffy going to do about that? When the necessities for them to live and to have a healthy life and a reasonable lifestyle make them make the decision not to pay their mortgage arrears, does the bank then move in and say they are strategic defaulters and treat them differently?