Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom labhairt ar an gceist rí-thábhachtach seo a dhéanann déileáil le tuairisc Keane. Tá an tuairisc ann féin tábhachtach ach ní dhéanann sé déileáil leis an gceist ina iomlán mar níl na freagraí ann ar chóir a bheith ann, agus muid sa gcruachás ina bhfuilimid.

Tá beagnach 100,000 morgáiste i ngruachás sa tír. Sin an figiúir oifigiúil ach measaim féin, agus measann a lán dóibh siúd atá ag déileáil leis an gceist seo go mb'fhéidir go bhfuil a dhá oiread sin i gcruachás. An fáth nach bhfuil cruachás na ndaoine eile sin aitheanta ná go bhfuil daoine ag fáil cuidiú óna dtuismitheoirí, tá siad ag dul gan bia agus ag fáil iasachtaí i ngach áit agus is féidir chun an morgáiste a íoc. Go minic níl na daoine sin ag íoc billí leictreachais nó gáis nó billí móra eile agus tá na billí sin ag ardú de shíor. Feicimid sin gach uair a fhoilsítear tuairisc ar cé mhéad teaghlach atá ag dul gan leictreachas no gás toisc nach bhfuil siad in ann an bille a íoc.

Níl aon dabht ach go bhfuil breis agus 100,000 teaghlach i gcruachás maidir le morgáistí. Sin an fáth go bhfuil díomá orm gur cuireadh an tuairisc seo le chéile gan a bheith réalach. Níl dhéanfaidh sé déileáil go gasta leis an gceist seo, ceann des na ceisteanna is mó atá ag díriú isteach ar an gcuid is mó de mhuintir na hÉireann faoi láthair. The focus of the Keane report is on distressed mortgages. As I said, 100,000 mortgages have been deemed to be distressed but I believe the figure is probably almost double that because the 100,000 only includes mortgages in arrears for more than 90 days and mortgages which, at this stage, have been restructured. The number is growing all the time.

The Keane report's recommendations fail miserably to address mortgage distress and my party colleague, Deputy Doherty, identified and addressed many of the failings in an earlier debate on this issue. Part of the reason the Keane report failed so miserably to grapple with the issues was its failure to involve those in the know as to the dynamics and impact of household debt. I refer to groups such as MABS which should have been centrally involved in the deliberations of the Keane group.

Deputy Doherty also outlined Sinn Féin's proposals to address mortgage distress. Mortgage distress is only part of the picture because the number of households managing to make their mortgage repayments but which are under severe pressure as a consequence of having a mortgage coupled with negative equity is much higher. I believe it is another 100,000 households, and I am not the only one who has come up with this figure. Some 200,000 households are probably overburdened by mortgage debt, twice the official number.

These families are doing everything possible, including going without food, light and heat, to ensure they meet their mortgage repayment obligations every month. That is laudable in some ways but not in other ways if families must go without the necessities of life. There was an election in February but many of us have been on the doorsteps again due to the presidential election. We have seen houses with no lights on and people sitting in darkness. That is the scale of the financial crisis many of these families face because the one thing they want to try to ensure is a roof over their heads yet children and other family members are going without the basic necessities.

If the policy response to mortgage over-indebtedness targets only those mortgages which are in arrears, then what is in it for those families who are in arrears and who are building up credit card debts and debts in regard to household necessities such as gas, electricity and even maintenance? They are begging and borrowing but I hope not stealing to pay the mortgage. I know people who have exhausted their savings and those of their parents, friends and relatives to ensure there is a roof over their heads. There is no alternative for these people. Social housing is not available to them. To date, they have invested a certain amount in a house they hoped they could call their own.

These people are the victims of an economic system which created a bubble that collapsed. House prices quadrupled between 1996 to 2006 and there are consequences to that. Ireland's banks must acknowledge that the current debt levels are unrealistic, that there must be write-offs of domestic mortgages and that it must occur urgently.

Obviously, there is a wider macroeconomic problem as a result of Ireland's extremely high level of household debt and that includes the mortgage which, in most cases, is a significant part of it. Household debt diminishes domestic consumer demand which, in turn, leads to job losses. Household debt is one of the biggest barriers to our economic recovery at this time and we ignore it at our peril. The longer we delay, the more likely it is to have greater consequences on our ability to come out of this crisis.

A mortgage may not be in distress but the sheer size of mortgages entered into between 2002 to 2009, in particular, coupled with falling incomes, rising unemployment and underemployment is preventing homeowners from spending. Personal consumption in quarter two of this year was 2.4% below the same period in 2010 and the outlook is bleak. That is the scale of the problem and there will be consequences if we do not address this urgently. More jobs will be lost in retail and in production unless we can get our economy back working. Some of this relates to job creation but the rest relates to this huge problem of indebtedness. If the economy is to recover, the Government must take concrete steps to reduce household debt, including writing down mortgage debt.

We also have another problem because we need measures to respond effectively to those whose mortgages are in arrears. We also need measures to prevent mortgages from becoming distressed. There must be write-downs. There are write-downs for businesses and there is NAMA for those who speculated but there is no NAMA for those who are in economic distress in respect of their mortgages. The solutions the Keane report suggested are minimalist. They are not radical and they will not deal with the problem. They will only gloss over it.

The Department of Social Protection spent €66 million in 2010 on mortgage interest supplement for 18,000 households. That is €5 million more than in 2009 and €40 million more than in 2008. The figure for this year will be higher and eligibility is very narrow. If we were to make it available to all the families which actually need it, as was said by the Labour Party before the election, that spend would skyrocket. What the Labour Party said was laudable but writing down a percentage of peak house price mortgages would result in an instant saving for the State in mortgage interest supplement because it would not only reduce the amount of spend on each claimant but it would reduce the number of claimants. Ultimately, it would make a wide swathe of people's mortgage burden more affordable which would release disposable income to stimulate the local economy.

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