Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion. This is serious politics and it is about time we had a proper discussion about the matter. More importantly, it is time we had some ideas and solutions as to how to rectify the problem. It is the biggest problem facing my generation. We have been knee-deep in the mortgage crisis for almost five years and the toll of the crisis has reverberated throughout all sections of Irish society. One in four mortgage holders has been identified as incapable of repaying mortgage debt and 86,146 private residential mortgage accounts for principal dwelling houses were identified as being in arrears for more than 90 days. I often think of the other three in four who are making payments on their mortgages and the physical, mental and emotional problems they must encounter monthly, weekly and daily and how their family lives must suffer under this financial stress.

We are now all aware of the long reaching implications the mortgage crisis has had through our work as politicians, through our friends and family members, through the media and for many of us personally. Coming from that generation, I meet it at my clinic and throughout the country because as a former banker people come to me looking for solutions. It is not easy but it must be resolved. Otherwise we will become known as generation jinxed.

Many people who set out on their course in life went travelling, learned a trade, went straight to work to earn money or went to college to gain skills and knowledge. People did what they could to find the right type of employment for themselves, which would later help them afford a home and a family. They followed along the natural path of life of finding a partner, buying a home, having children or some version of these events in some order. For many people in a certain generation the carpet was pulled from under them overnight, and they have been struggling ever since. I belong to this group as do many of my colleagues. Normally when I look down to the Front Bench I am very happy to see people with grey hair who are slightly older than me. I am on the record as welcoming their political experience and their ability to stay calm in the eye of the storm during a time of crisis. However, those of us in the younger generation need to identify what is critical to us and need to put pressure on the Front Bench to ensure it is dealt with so we do not lose sight of what we are trying to gain as a society.

The Government's announcement on the Personal Insolvency Act and AIB's announcement today that it is willing to offer debt deals for the 33,000 homeowners who are in arrears are encouraging. While announcements such as these are a bit late in the grand scheme of things I see them as a pro-active approach to the mounting and growing crisis of which we have all been aware since 2008. Those of us clued into economics realised this would happen a long time before then. It is time for the other banks to stop playing catch-up on the mortgage crisis and tackle the issue. We need to have certainty for the family home. We are trying to protect people, families and young children. Ireland has always put a great value on the idea of owning one's own home, and whether through social housing or personal ownership one does not want to have a stressful situation. This is a fundamental Irish principle which all political parties share.

An examination of the banking crisis is essential to regain the confidence of those we have lost through the actions of a previous Government and the failings of institutions which cannot function on their own. The people of the country need to hear the truth. President Michael D. Higgins, my former colleague and a good friend of the Minister of State, Deputy Joe Costello, stated at the Sorbonne during the week we should not be considered as consumers of commodities but rather as social beings, and that we should use economics to this effect. We must achieve this through legislation, pressure and the banks coming up with a solution.

I propose a framework for people to approach banks. If one in four mortgage holders is in arrears how many people are pushed to the pin of their collar just to make payments? I believe many people pay 70% or 80% of their net income towards keeping a roof over their head and preventing bankruptcy. We need a meaningful and structured write-down of debt much along the lines of what we achieved on the promissory note. This is where I differ with Sinn Féin, but if we were to be objective we would come to the same solution. The debts should be separated and those which are affordable should be dealt with by the debtor and the other debts should be put onto the State. We should catch this can and kick it so far down the road that it becomes irrelevant to us as a nation. This would mean asking the European Central Bank to take some responsibility for its culpability and telling every citizen in the country we are in this together. Older generations complain their children are hamstrung financially and they are helping them out. The ultimate way to sort this out is not through wealthy parents helping out less fortunate children or any other social scenario one can think of. It is important to act as a society. We should bring the debts together and look at packaging them and using the ESM, if this is the mechanism to be used. Earlier Deputy Doherty referred to the Personal Insolvency Act not giving people the capacity to go back to the banks. I do not believe this is necessary. To complete the circle, it is up to AIB, Bank of Ireland and other State-guaranteed banks to get back up on their own two feet. I would like to see them remain nationalised through the ESM and held onto by the State until they become extremely profitable and then used as an asset to pay down some of our debt or provide services to people.

Anybody seriously considering buying a State-owned asset such as a stakeholding in a bank will do due diligence. If mortgage holders are in arrears or impaired nobody will be interested in purchasing the banks. The banks know they must clean up their act and carry out securitisation of loans whereby the best are picked and sold and one gets money from it. This would be to the benefit of the State and would decrease our debts and provide us with funding.

I have raised this issue for a long time. I propose there should be a moratorium on banks taking profits on a generation which was mis-sold loans on property prices which had no connection with reality. My parent's generation received mortgages of two and a half times one's income for 15 or 20 years. My generation received mortgages of up to ten times one's income for up to 40 years. In many cases two incomes were going into a house. The hyperextension of credit is largely responsible for this. Bad governance, stewardship and regulation also played a part but it is not really about blame any more; it is about trying to resolve it. Those who are culpable need to take some of the pain.

Integration is key. The irony is that the Irish banks are less capable of dealing with this than the non-Irish banks. The Irish banks are owned by us as a State, so every time we write off debt for somebody we will place it on that person's neighbour and the rest of us. I am okay with this but I would also like to see the bondholders and the European Central Bank play a role. It will not be simple. It will be complex but people should stick with us and we hope to resolve this matter.

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