Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am being asked not to have any targeting; that is essentially the proposal. Nobody is served by talking about people losing their homes or credit ratings. We are talking about a mortgage support, recognising the fact that the broad section of mortgage holders with a mortgage balance between €80,000 and €500,000 will benefit from this measure. We also have a whole range of other measures. We have a well-established code of conduct on mortgage arrears for anybody who needs assistance and who should be engaging with their lender to come up with a solution for their individual circumstance. Again, this has to be seen alongside all of the other measures in the budget that people with a relatively low-value mortgage may be in a position to benefit from, including the energy credits, the different changes to welfare, the lump sum payments and the other cost-of-living measures to reduce costs in education, healthcare, childcare and so on. The budget has to be looked at in the round. I do not believe that universal relief, as proposed, would be appropriate in these circumstances. Of course, I have received and looked at the emails, and I understand where people are coming from. Of course, people will appreciate support. However, where there is an increase of the order being suggested, it is on top of what is a relatively low base of probably €400 to €600 per month, which for the overwhelming majority of people is affordable when compared with other issues such as rents and so on, which I am sure we will talk about later in the evening.