Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

I would like another hour. We must focus on assisting people to continue to live in their homes. What good will speedy repossession orders serve other than to transfer to the State the burden of having to find alternative accommodation for families through the supplementary welfare scheme? We are already spending €550 million in this regard. What is the logic or sense of selling or attempting to sell repossessed properties in a depressed or falling market when it is highly probable that the initial mortgage capital outlay will not be redeemed? It is easy, as Deputy Lynch stated, for a credit institution or bank to purport to comply with a code of practice by merely sending out peremptory demands and engaging in a paper process rather than having proper and full engagement with the borrower in terms of negotiating, for example, interest only repayments, rolled up interest for a period, the extension of the period of a mortgage or an agreement on repayment schedule that suits the individual needs of the borrower.

A question arises as to who is the advocate for the borrower when he or she finds themselves in this position. All mortgage documents are drawn up by the banks who have every legal process behind them. They are the ones who have real power. The inequality of Ireland's provisions are loaded: the presumption of dominance is in favour of the bank and institutions while we, the little people, sit at the table and sign up.

Deputy Lynch has proposed that we should put this into abeyance for a specified period. Twenty four months is a fair period to give people a chance to get back on their feet. This proposal would need to be statutorily backed as a code of conduct is voluntary. We must request the banks and building societies not to initiate repossession proceedings when a person defaults on his or her mortgage repayments for a specified period. It is time the proposal put forward by Deputy Lynch this evening was adopted. He proposed the introduction of a mechanism which would help tilt the balance in favour of the borrower experiencing genuine difficulties at this time.

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