Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

It is not the fault of struggling homeowners that for various political reasons we have had four different Ministers at the Department in the past five years. The fact the Minister has been in the job for only three months is no excuse for the fact that there has been no action on this since the review group was established more than three years ago. Forget about that. The Minister used it as an excuse on the previous occasion also and I do not know how many homes have been repossessed in the meantime. It is not their fault that the Government has changed ministerial portfolios so often.

The Minister is concerned with the issue of overall debt, as are we all. If this is the case, why has the Minister not changed the regulations to allow community welfare officers take overall household debt into account when granting mortgage interest supplement? They cannot do so. If a person has a mortgage, some of which is based on a house and more based on an amalgamation of debt, he or she is not allowed receive mortgage interest supplement on the amalgamation of debt part but only on the part which funded the purchase of the home. If the Minister is concerned about this why does he not deal with it?

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