Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

There are two requirements that have to met here, but the approach the Taoiseach is taking does not meet either. I have been talking about the necessity for a moratorium on home repossessions for some time. On a number of occasions, the Taoiseach has responded by saying the banks are being spoken to, codes of practice are being introduced, and all kinds of approaches are being recommended to the banks. The first problem with that, however, is that it is being left to the goodwill and generosity of the banks. Whatever disposition the banks may have now to be generous and to respond to the invocations of the Government to deal sympathetically with mortgage holders, as soon as the NAMA legislation is passed and the banks have their money and their bad loans off their books, they will have a free hand to do as they please. The Government must include a requirement in the legislation for a moratorium on repossessions. I do not refer to people who default on their loans through their own fault, who have the wherewithal to repay a mortgage and are negligent in doing so, but to people who are stuck because they have lost their job, their business has gone bad or their circumstances have changed and they need a break. Just as the banks are looking for a break from the Government, householders also need a break. Unless that is done before the NAMA legislation is passed, the Government will tee up a situation where the banks will be able to go after householders with a free hand and the world and its mother knows that is what they are planning to do. The ESRI estimates 35,000 householders are in their sights.

The second thing that needs to be done is the Government needs to take the fear of the loss of one's home out of the psyche of the country. The Taoiseach has invited the trade unions and employers for further discussions. The first item he needs to put on the table before he commences social partnership talks is a guarantee that people will not lose their homes in order that those who have endured jobs losses or the loss of their business will not find themselves in a situation where they have to uproot from their neighbourhoods, leave the homes they have been living in and take their children out of the local school and so on. This would mean they would, at least, have that peace of mind and the issue of the rescheduling the repayment of the mortgage and all the options outlined by the Taoiseach, with which I agree, could be bedded down and made part of a moratorium that could be enforced for the period of time we are going through these difficulties.

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