Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this debate. As I have only been asked to speak in the last few minutes, I have not prepared speaking notes. However, what is in the head is just as important.

When Dublin Corporation introduced a house purchase grant in 1988, the country went into a frenzy in the belief that everybody needed to buy property and nobody needed to live in rented accommodation any longer. However, the majority of those who live in the 14 different flat complexes in my constituency still cannot afford to buy their homes.

I welcome the Keane report both as a public representative and a parent of young adults who have bought their homes and established their own identities. My mother used to tell us that when we turned 21 we would be given a rucksack and told to make our own lives. This report shows that we care about these people. Even though they may be in debt, they will have an opportunity to stay in their homes. Most young people are not looking for handouts. They simply want an opportunity to live in their own homes while paying for them as best they can. I have dealt with a considerable number of young people who are struggling to repay their mortgages and send their children to school. If they are given this breathing space, they will be able to manage their debts.

The role of this House is to make policies that allow people to return to work and give them opportunities to own their homes so that they can make a future for themselves. As a mother, I often wonder whether my children have enough money to buy a bottle of milk and a sliced pan. These little things in life that we took for granted have become important to people. I have noticed that people are putting fewer groceries in their shopping trolleys when they go to the supermarket at the weekend.

The young people who present to my clinics with mortgage debts do not believe their banks are prepared to listen to them. I was given a copy of a letter which a certain bank sent to a young man with a mortgage. This individual operated a small company that employed eight people but he had to close it because the business went away. When he went into arrears of €2,390.50, the bank started to hound him with demands to make an agreement to pay.

The inner city witnessed an onslaught of apartment construction over the past ten years. No sooner had developers laid the last bricks on the foundations of their apartment blocks than they turned the corner to start new developments. Many of the people who bought in this area want to move on or expand their families but are caught in their apartments. A young couple who were living in an apartment block were interviewed on a recent television programme on the issue of arrears. The couple were anxious to move to a house with a back garden in which their child could play and, most of all, space to expand their family. However, they are caught in a hole which they will not be able to escape for a long time to come.

I have come across a category of people who are in love. Do Deputies recall how we used to know what that meant? These individuals bought properties before they met and now they have to run between their homes to maintain their relationships. They come to me for advice on how they can develop their relationships when they face huge mortgages. The Keane report has nothing to say about this category of people.

I welcome the three alternative solutions that the report offers. The one that jumps off the page for me is the proposal on split mortgages. Most people who present to my clinic simply want breathing space and time to get back on their feet. Please God, the economy will turn around and they will be able to start paying their full mortgages in three or four years time. The report opens up an opportunity for young people and families with young children to step back and come to an arrangement with their banks to remain in their own homes.

Other Deputies have quoted statistics and numbers. I am not great at quoting figures but in the last six months I dealt with more mortgage related problems than in my previous 12 years in politics. If one takes the human aspects into account, most parents would saw off their right arms if they thought it would solve their children's problems. However, what young people need is precisely what is recommended in the Keane report.

The banks still believe they can act as they want. The letter to which I referred earlier leads me to suspect the banks are not listening. The letter states that the bank in question is not obliged to release a mortgage unless its client can repay the loan in full and suggests this may not be possible in the current market. It goes on to state that the bank is not obliged to agree to provide a mortgage loan for this purpose. Every paragraph of the letter is exactly the same. The country and the Government are shoring up these banks. The Minister for Finance and his Cabinet colleagues should ensure that people who want to stay in their own homes can do so. We need to make it very clear to these banks that this is the way to go. They cannot be waving the sword at these people and telling them they will not agree to these terms. There is an opportunity to give young people some breathing space, which is what this report is all about. I welcome the report and I hope many young people get an opportunity to stay in the homes they bought and to rear their children there. This is particularly true in communities where people have bought apartments. Hopefully in the coming months we may do something to help those who are paying huge amounts.

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