Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am unambiguously against this Bill. I believe it will pose the greatest of difficulties for those who are paying mortgages at the moment because of what could happen to their mortgages in the future, and the rates of interest on their mortgages.

At a time when the economy, small companies and families need credit, including citizens who need credit to buy homes, this Bill, if passed, could have a highly detrimental effect on the ability to supply new rates of credit to the economy at affordable rates of interest. Given the number of times this committee has acknowledged the need for strong, independent regulators, the European Central Bank and the Central Bank of Ireland raise a variety of profound concerns in respect of this Bill and, perhaps most significantly from a Central Bank point of view, indicate that if our banking system was to ever get into difficulty, the passage of this Bill could affect the ability of the Central Bank to support Irish banks in times of difficulty. That is the gravest of issues to be raised in respect of any Bill like this one. It is for all of those reasons that I oppose the Bill, which will not come as a surprise to Deputy Doherty. I want to ensure that people get treated fairly and those who are in debt distress are supported. I also have a duty to people who depend on our banks for credit and affordable mortgages. This Bill does not recognise the need to find that balance.

From a process point of view, I am eager to get the Chairman's guidance regarding how he wants to move this forward. In that regard, I will simply say that if the Government treated any member of the Opposition in the way I believe this committee has been treated in having two different reports issued on one day or if I, as a member of the Government, attempted to treat this committee like that, the committee would be apoplectic with me, and understandably so. We are not talking about slightly different reports being issued. They are materially different and they require materially different amendments that would have very different consequences in respect of what the Dáil could do. For those reasons, I believe this Bill should not proceed to Committee Stage. At the very least, the course of action proposed, namely, an independent analysis of the Bill before it goes to Committee Stage, is essential.