Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

This is a torturous situation for those people who are trapped in negative equity and with unsustainable mortgages. I have just rehearsed in the Dáil Chamber the recklessness and the profit-seeking by banks, developers and various elements that brought that about, so I will not repeat it here. It is a huge constraint on our austerity-damaged economy that so much is going into banks to pay for unsustainable debts among householders instead of going into local economies. Has Allied Irish Banks considered the idea of a general write-down of owner-occupied mortgages in negative value to today's value, with a clawback procedure in the event that the craziness starts again, and a recalibration downwards of the monthly payment with a view to a universal solution that would take this horrific millstone off our people and assist the economy to function better and reboot itself? Has AIB ever considered that?