Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I wish to raise two issues. The Master of the High Court has talked of an avalanche of new cases of home repossessions happening in October. He has said that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform should be considering changing the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court to prevent those cases going through an expensive High Court procedure which, as we have already seen, is being abused. Is it the Government's intention to make this change before the summer recess?

On foot of raising a hare, the issue of the statutory instruments is not a trivial one. I am sure the Taoiseach has had the experience of his daughter asking to go to a concert and asking for a loan of his credit card. Technically one can deny the bills when they come back a month later. However, the difficulty is that we will be presented with a scheme which will be a fait accompli because commitments will have been made in the intervening period. This is why the foreclosure of this debate is a mistake.

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