Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and I like to say so occasionally in order to achieve consensus. I see nothing wrong with the institutions that lent so liberally in the boom times bearing some responsibility for picking up this tab. I am not suggesting that they provide write-offs but rather that they lengthen repayment terms and so on. It is wrong that others would be expected to pick up that tab. In that context, I am not in favour of the approved housing bodies or any other housing bodies picking it up. Many of us have engaged on a one-to-one basis with the lending institutions on these issues and have been in court with them on countless occasions. Time and again we have asked them why it was sustainable to lend so liberally in 2007? Circumstances since then have not changed. The only thing that has changed is the economy, such that many people now find themselves in an impossible position. I urge careful consideration of the need to implant in the minds of the lending institutions that they bear some degree of responsibility and culpability for what happened. If we do not do that the result will be that nobody will accept responsibility. If we divide responsibility for housing among a multiplicity of bodies, the result will be that everybody will have responsibility and then nobody will have it. Responsibility for housing provision must be the remit of the local authorities.

In the context of leasing in Kildare and the adjoining counties, I am well aware of the issue. It is a serious matter and the position is becoming worse on a daily basis. The local authority is purchasing houses and making them available but it needs to purchase more. The Government has approved the necessary funding in that regard. We must impress upon all concerned the need to ensure that we achieve what we can, including the provision of modular housing, in the shortest possible timeframe.