Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for giving me the opportunity to speak on tonight's motion. I believe the Government is acting on the mortgage crisis and taking huge steps towards addressing the country's legacy of reckless spending. I welcome the publication of the heads of the personal insolvency Bill and the fact that the Bill is due to come to the House at the end of April.

One of the reasons we are here this evening is that people spent because developers built apartments and houses that were completely over-priced. In my own area, the price of a corporation house, like the one in which I live, increased fourfold. The price of those houses has now gone back to a more realistic level. Deputies can talk about crystal balls and planes but the reality is clear. A huge number of young people are trying to keep their heads above water and to keep their homes.

I draw the Minister' attention to the young people who bought into mortgage debt and negative equity and have been caught in a catch-22 situation. I refer to the young people who entered into shared ownership with local authorities. Many of these houses are worth a quarter of what their owners paid for them. For many of these people, meeting their mortgage payments has become a huge crisis. That is why I hope the personal insolvency Bill will give them the opportunity, through their local authority, to stay in their properties, keep a roof over their heads and not be put out on the street. It serves no one to put people out of their homes and back onto a local authority housing list.

Everyone in the Chamber is speaking this evening with much heart and understanding of the crisis of mortgage debt and related matters. It is time the banks listened. Above all, I ask the Minister to continue to listen to the voices of the people on the street and to the young people who are caught in mortgage difficulties, particularly those in local authority and affordable housing shared ownership schemes.

See this speech in context