Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)

I want to talk about the credit aspect of the motion. I am flabbergasted at the attitude of the Government. The three components of this topic include a burgeoning mortgage crisis, which is getting worse, delaying economic recovery and causing untold misery to hundreds of thousands of people. This includes those who can pay their mortgages at the moment but are worried about the future and what will happen if they lose their jobs or interest rates increase. The second component is a Government with a thumping majority, much of it due to votes as a result of promising to fix this problem or do something about it 13 months ago. The third component is that a ready-made solution exists in the report of the Law Reform Commission. This was available when the Government took office and was subsequently translated into legislation by my colleague, Deputy Michael McGrath, seven or eight months ago. We have continuous prevarication, foot dragging, delay, committees, interdepartmental groups, reports and studies while nothing is happening.

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