Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I particularly wish to speak on paragraphs (a) and (e) of the amendment, which deal with insurance companies and mortgage interest supplement. I would also like a report from the Minister on the PRSI changes and the practicality of them. Deputy Shortall is right. The summer before last, an bord snip nua looked at cuts. We do not seem to give the same emphasis to areas where savings can be made, because that would involve more work. It is simpler to cut a certain percentage from payments to one parent families, child benefit, the blind pension or whatever. A blanket quick decision can be made in those cases. There is much less examination of other ways to save money. Deputy Shortall's proposal regarding insurance companies is a no-brainer, to use a horrible phrase, and there is a huge amount of sense in it.

During Question Time yesterday, we had a discussion on the mortgage interest supplement. Every time someone comes to me with a mortgage difficulty, I am struck by how the mortgage interest supplement cheque goes straight to the bank. It is a bank subsidy. When the time runs out, as it does at different stages in different parts of the country, the mortgage holder is back to square one. We need to see more negotiation with financial institutions beforehand. There is no point in paying the supplement for a year, only to have customers lose their houses in any event.

Mortgage interest supplement is vital as a bridge to allow people to hold on to their homes. In that sense, I am supportive of it. However, we need to examine how the financial institutions are using it. They are now telling customers they will not renegotiate repayments until the customers have been granted mortgage interest supplement. That is plainly wrong, particularly from institutions the Government is supporting. Sub-prime lenders are the worst offenders in this regard. This problem needs to be looked at because the supplement is costing €70 million this year. That will probably rise, depending on what the Minister does in his review and the recommendations of the Cooney report. It is important that this matter be examined.

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