Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I fully agree with this important amendment and concur with previous speakers. I do not know whether the Department of Social and Family Affairs fully appreciates the magnitude of the problem that is now unfolding before us. Anything we have seen heretofore will fade into the dim and distant past in comparison to this. A series of problems are turning up. For instance, we now have a cohort of people who are self-sufficient, self-starters and always looked after their own businesses. They did the right thing and were not a burden on the State. They bought their house in good faith and were loaned money in an economy with rapidly escalating prices. There is no doubt that they borrowed unwisely, but they were forced to do so because otherwise they would have been left without a house, renting instead from a landlord or investor. In that case, the rent would be equal to their mortgage repayments, so they were in a catch-22 situation. I can tell the Minister it is a case of "Mé féin ar an lámh eile" again. In many cases, given the unfolding economic situation, those people now find themselves out of a job. The criteria being applied to assess their cases are old-fashioned. Those criteria may have been applicable four or five years ago when people were quite happy because they had economic alternatives, but there are problems now.

I compliment community welfare officers who are adopting a human attitude to such assessments. There is a minority who do something totally different. Messages are sent down the chain that this is the answer and that going to a TD will not help. If there is one thing that revs up my engine, it is that phrase. We should send a clear message to whoever issued the diktat saying "Don't go to your local TD because they can't help you either". We are elected as public representatives and have a job to represent people, including those who are disadvantaged for whatever reason. In addition, we are not beholden to any officials or others, and do not have to account to them. I issue that fair warning as to how such people will be treated in future.

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