Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

The mortgage and negative equity crisis is absolutely massive. It faces at least 115,000 people who either are in arrears or, as a result of their mortgages being distressed, have had their mortgages restructured. Moreover, this may only be the beginning of it or, at least, there may be much more to come if the economic situation deteriorates further or if more people get into trouble. This is an emergency and a potential timebomb unless it is dealt with in a serious, determined, fair and sustainable way. Most importantly, it is a huge human crisis for those tens of thousands of families racked with anxiety and fear of losing their homes, having debts they simply cannot manage, worrying about their future and those of their children, as well as about the prospect, if not of losing their homes, of being crippled with debts for years to come.

This human tragedy is also an economic emergency because unless this problem is sorted out, the economy will be crippled for years to come. If this number of people and families are in massive debt, crippled and strangled by it and fighting to keep a roof over their heads, it is obvious they will not have money to spend in the economy and the disastrous stagnation of the domestic economy will continue and worsen. Consequently, there is both a human and an economic imperative to deal with this crisis. In order to do so in a meaningful and fair way, one must establish first principles. This is where the Keane report gets it wrong from the outset. Its guiding principles say it all by stating:

Those who can discharge their mortgage applications must do so. There is no entitlement to a particular solution and solutions have consequences ... it is inevitable that people will lose their homes ... blanket debt forgiveness ... is not recommended.

The report also states the challenges are "to keep people in their homes, where appropriate" and "to avoid inappropriate mortgage holder behaviour, thereby compounding the ... problem". That says it all about the attitude demonstrated within the Keane report.

This is a bankers' report. Moreover, it is the report of bankers and a Government and State that are in hock to bankers, the first priority of which is to pay back bankers, bondholders and speculators and for which the human needs of the mortgageholders, that is, of the 115,000 or more families struggling with unsustainable levels of debt, come way down the line. This is the priority and it is spelled out clearly in the report. From the outset, it was put together with the wrong priorities in mind.

Moreover, it says everything about the manner in which the report was put together that those who actually know what the mortgage crisis means and who deal with it on a daily basis were not involved. Why were organisations such as MABS, the Free Legal Aid Centres, FLAC, New Beginning and Threshold not involved? These are the organisations which actually are familiar with the plight of mortgageholders. It reflects everything about the Government's priorities in setting up the Keane group and setting the report's terms of reference that it chose not to include either those whose concern is the actual mortgage holders or representatives of the mortgage holders themselves. The guiding principles at the beginning of the report set out clearly that the agenda was to do the bidding of the European Union and the IMF yet again. It was to protect the banks at all costs, squeeze as much money as possible out of ordinary householders to make sure the banks' books balanced, because that is what the IMF and the troika wanted. They do not give a damn about the human and social consequences, what will happen to the economy or those who may lose their homes.

Moreover, all the weasel words Members have heard in this debate in the past two days, in which Members have expressed their concern for mortgageholders and commended MABS, FLAC and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, mean absolutely nothing unless one states, in a way the Keane report point-blank refused to do, that one's priority is to assist the mortgage holders who are in this distressed state and their families. Members must set out meaningful first principles that name the problem as it is. The first principle with which Members must start is that the crisis, this car crash as Deputy Mathews correctly termed it yesterday, was caused by the greed of bankers, developers and the Fianna Fáil Government which facilitated them every step of the way. Those who simply sought to put a roof over their heads during a bubble created by the greed of a tiny minority are not responsible and should not be held responsible. They do not have obligations to pay back the banks, as suggested in the Keane report, because the debt they carry was inflicted on them by the reckless greed, sharp practice and imprudential banking of these financial institutions which created a rigged and distorted market. Those who simply wanted to satisfy the most basic need to put a roof over their heads and who are entitled to so do could only do so in a rigged and distorted market created by the greed of a tiny minority. Members' first principle must be that they are there to protect and any recommendations, proposals or legislation arising from this debate must state these persons are innocent and do not have obligations. They have an obligation to keep a roof over their heads and unsaddle them from this massive debt burden inflicted on them by bankers and bondholders and which the IMF and EU troika wish to continue to hold over them. They must confirm that people have a right to a home. Particularly when there is a massive oversupply running to tens of thousands of empty homes, the idea that anyone might face eviction is obscene. There should be no evictions and people saddled with unsustainable debt should have that debt taken from them.

As for establishing these first principles, at the very least the Government should take on board the recommendations made by the groups such as MABS, New Beginning and so on which appeared before the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform yesterday. These are the first principles that should have informed the report. Full information must be provided on the extent of distressed mortgages, which still is lacking, and how many more are likely to become distressed. We need to take all personal debt into account. People in this situation need representation which should be provided by the State and paid for the banks. Any arrangement for people in a distressed situation must ensure there is a dignified standard of living for the families in that arrangement and they must retain their dwellings. Personal insolvency legislation which switches the balance in favour of the borrower and against the bank should be introduced immediately. Yesterday New Beginning made a suggestion that could be done tomorrow if the Government had the will. It proposed inserting a clause in existing legislation requiring judges to take into account the personal circumstances of borrowers when dealing with debt situations.

If we want to remove the car crash that has been caused by the property bubble and the greed of a minority, there must be debt write-off. The Government and the Keane report are again disingenuous on the cost of this. The figure of €14 billion is bandied around, but it was stated that if it was targeted towards people with principal private residences being the criterion, it could be €10 billion and the Central Bank conference on 13 October said the real cost could be €8.3 billion. We put €70 billion into recapitalising the banks, €24 billion of which was to address distressed mortgages. We put €35 billion into NAMA and we are paying €200,000 a year to developers who bankrupted this country to manage their assets. Despite this, the Government is claiming we cannot afford €8 billion or €10 billion to write down the debts of mortgage holders. Of course we can. It is a question of which is our priority: to protect bankers and financiers and do what the troika tells us or to protect ordinary householders, who are in a desperate situation through no fault of their own, and allow them keep a roof over their head. The choice is the Minister's and he should side with the people.

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