Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Keane report. Like many in the country, I awaited the publication of the report with some anticipation. Given the scale of the mortgage arrears crisis which, we should remember, is a human and family crisis, the report is too shallow in its findings to deal adequately with the crisis.

I am keen to focus on two points. The significant limitations of the interdepartmental group's procedures are highlighted by the working group and there are issues relating to the mortgage-to-rent proposals recommended in the report. It is disappointing that the working group met only eight times, too few meetings given the scale of the crisis. The working group did not carry out in-depth reviews of the loan books and operations of the lending institutions. In addition, there were no data available to the working group on the proportion of those mortgage holders currently making scheduled repayments but on the verge of going into arrears. While this is not the fault of the working group, it is the duty of the Government to seek out these data and I believe it will do so. Those on the verge of arrears today will be in arrears next week or month and if this crisis is to be met head-on the Government must plan based on the problem as it exists today but also on the problem as it may develop in coming weeks and months.

The second issue I wish to raise relates to the recommendations for mortgage-to-rent schemes included in the report and, specifically, the leasing scheme from local authorities. I understand the proposal calls for the local authority to enter into a 20-year lease with the mortgage lender. The mortgage holder would then become a tenant of the local authority and pay a differential rent to the authority. The difference between the differential rent and the amount owed to the lender would be met by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. My fear is that given the gap in data available to the working group, the potential costs for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government have not been calculated or assessed adequately. We must ensure we have fully costed such a scheme before we consider introducing and implementing it and, based on the report alone, I am not confident that these calculations have been done. More work must be done in this area. Home owners who enter such mortgage-to-rent schemes should have the opportunity, if their circumstances improve in future, to avail of tenant purchase schemes.

I am also concerned about the capacity of local authorities to cope with the possibility of thousands of extra properties falling under their remit for repair and maintenance. Fingal County Council, which is in my constituency, is pinned to its collar as it stands. Regrettably, at the end of the month we will see an end to Fingal County Council's bin service due to lack of funding and resources. The Keane report recommends the potential handing over of properties in mortgage arrears to local authorities and this has the potential to cause major problems for them.

During the past week we saw residents of the Priory Hall apartment complex in Donaghmede in my neighbouring constituency of Dublin North-East having to evacuate their homes due to critical safety concerns related to the buildings' construction. Some Deputies spoke on these matters today. There are estates in Dublin North and elsewhere afflicted with pyrite heave and many of the families living in pyrite-affected homes are in mortgage arrears as well. It is important that the pyrite working group addresses the fact that many home owners will not be able to sort out these pyrite issues by themselves and, in many cases, the developer is gone.

Will the local authorities be able to repair and maintain these homes should the mortgage holders fall into a mortgage-to-rent scheme? Home owners with such fire safety issues or pyrite problems should not be excluded from the schemes available. The Government must address these major issues when deciding on policy. While I support the Government and I realise it is trying earnestly to tackle the mortgage arrears problem in the context of wider economic problems, I voice my dissatisfaction with the depth and recommendations of the report. I recognise that the report is only one part of a process that will feed into a resolution of mortgage arrears issues.

I welcome the report as an important stepping stone and I commend the work done but the people have put us into this House to push further, to dig deeper and to work harder to find the right course of action to deal with these important issues. This is an important debate and it will continue on Thursday. The Government should accept ideas - I know it will - from all sides of the House in trying to come up with solutions because no one side of the House has a monopoly on the solution. I look forward to the remainder of the debate.

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