Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

None of these people can get a mortgage over a 20-year period because they are too old. They have grown old waiting for this legislation. A person of 50 years of age cannot avail of incremental purchase because he or she will be unable to clear a mortgage before the age of 65. I was hoping the Minister of State would see the sense of my amendment. I regret the way in which this matter has been introduced at the eleventh hour leaving little time for debate. I made this point to the Minister of State on Committee Stage. A week later, because it took me a week to get a briefing from the Minister of State's officials, I explained the difficulty to the officials.

I had hoped the Minister of State would bring forward an amendment so I could withdraw my amendment but that has not happened. The aspirations and hope that this House would rectify a long-standing injustice have been denied. They will be unable to buy their homes. They will be forced to return to the courts instead of having the matter dealt with by legislation. The Minister who met the people concerned in various parts of the country does not have the decency to come to the House and contribute to this debate.

When Deputy Kathleen Lynch and I met a number of residents in Cork city last Monday night we told them we would be dealing with this matter in the Dáil this evening and that we hoped to bring this issue to a successful conclusion. I do not say this in an adversarial way but simply to bring common sense to the Minister.

This is a small issue. It affects no more than 200 or 300 people in the entire country. It will not create a massive cash flow problem for any Department. In fact, if the discount was to be made by way of equity it would not cost the State a penny, because it would be a notional cost.

The Minister of State has done a great deal since he came to the Department. His predecessor was chased around the House on this issue for many years and did nothing about it. Deputy Finneran has, at least, done something. Unfortunately, he has missed the key aspect of this section of the Bill, which is fair play and long overdue justice. The right to buy should be put in place and a long-standing injustice rectified. It is a great pity the Minister of State cannot see that.

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