Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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-----go to the credit union to pay the shortfall in the Government scheme.

I have met the banks, the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, and the Central Bank on this issue and I have argued strongly that there needs to be a bespoke scheme. I commend the focus group on the amazing work it has done on behalf of all the people who are going to follow the members of the group on this journey. Hopefully, it will be easier for them because of the group's work.

My impression is that the banks' view is that homeowners are paying their mortgages and they do not want to know about it. The banks just want people to keep on paying their mortgages and to tell them when the houses are rebuilt. The fact that the banks have to consent to the demolition is significant. I hope the committee will hear from the banks on this issue. By allowing the homeowners to demolish bank assets, as the houses would be seen in the banks' eyes, they have to be certain that the assets can be restored. That puts a duty on them to be able to ensure that homeowners have the bridging finance and other finance that might result from the shortfalls in the scheme. I do not know how many members of the group were at the meeting with the BPFI and the banks. It was great that meeting was facilitated.

Is the penny dropping with the banking sector that it also has a problem, that the normal rules of lending are not going to work here, as Ms Shovlin mentioned, and that it needs to provide a bespoke product for the thousands of people who have to demolish and rebuild their homes?