Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There have been so many pronouncements and declarations about the mortgage crisis over recent days that they are difficult to comprehend, and many people on the street are looking on with some disbelief. Given that it is two years since the Government took office, people are coming to the conclusion that it is the imminence of the by-election that has caused the sudden series of announcements and the Government's realisation that it is a full-blown crisis which needs to be tackled urgently.

The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have committed to bringing in legislation to facilitate repossessions of family homes. The Taoiseach made that statement categorically last week. The Secretary General of the Department of Finance added to that when he told the Committee of Public Accounts that one could not expect the taxpayer to subsidise "them", meaning the people in arrears, to remain in houses that are beyond their means, given an "unnaturally low" level of repossessions. The Labour Party was furious with this remark and immediately set out to rubbish the Secretary General and hang him out to dry. Indeed, a leading member of the Labour Party, Mr. Jack O'Connor, said that the Secretary General's comments were "reprehensible and barbaric". The Minister for Finance said that the Secretary General is the Accounting Officer and must be honest when answering questions. I do not know whether he meant that the Labour Party Ministers and leading members of the party do not have to tell the truth all the time when they answer questions.

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