Mary White (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)

Let me give an example. I know a man who was in negotiation with his bank and the bank subsequently sent him on to a bigger bank in Dublin, the head office. While he was negotiating and trying to restructure his loans, the bank cut off his credit cards and said if he put his card into the ATM he would not get any money. It stopped his credit. It is a nonsense that this can happen in the middle of negotiation. We must stop such actions and ensure people with genuine difficulties are treated sympathetically by our banks. That must happen.

Money management education programmes providing advice on how to handle reduced incomes have been initiated for people taking redundancy. I welcome this. We have moved from such a high standard of living and hit the bottom with such a crash that people are bewildered and frightened by the speed at which this has happened. As one of the negotiators for the revised programme for Government, I am glad we are looking intently at mortgage protection measures and for a review of the existing code of conduct between the Irish Banking Federation and MABS outlets throughout the country on debt default. People feel vulnerable about their homes and their level of debt. In the context of the NAMA legislation, we must ensure that lending will continue so that businesses can keep people in employment and they, in turn, can repay their mortgages. We must ensure this financial circle continues. I look forward to seeing the final report of the Law Reform Commission on the reform of debt enforcement and its proposal on responsible borrowing and lending.

We need to ensure new, rigorous implementation of financial regulation so that banks no longer throw loans at people. That may not be supposed to be happening, but a person came to my constituency office who was offered a 100% mortgage last week. The Minister must ensure that does not happen again.

See this speech in context