Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As politicians, all of us, of whatever hue, deal with people every day who have been overwhelmed by their debts. We deal with people whose debts are such a heavy burden that they and their families will be dealing with it for a number of years to come. For some members of Fianna Fáil to make speeches in this House, therefore, as they have done in recent days, is not just cynical but is outright hypocrisy and an insult to the people and all they have been going through in recent years. If Fianna Fáil had got its legislation right in 2009, all of these individuals would have had no protection in the course of the past four years, especially from sub-prime lenders. We have no control over those particular lenders so they would have been free to throw individuals out of their homes in the past four years without there being any of the protections the insolvency legislation now gives to these people.

This Government did not introduce this legislation until we had first brought in the insolvency legislation in order to help to protect those very individuals. We have some control over what we can do with the banks but we have no control over the sub-prime lenders and it would have been very much those types of lenders who would have moved in to dispossess people of their homes. It is a mockery of the individuals in question and what they are currently going through, therefore, when the leader of Fianna Fáil, a former Minister who would be well aware of the background to this type of legislation, stands up at his own Ard-Fheis and proclaims we are doing something wrong. If he had got it right - and that party got many things wrong - those individuals would have been thrown out of their homes in hundreds, if not thousands, in recent years arising from the fault in the current legislation.

The insolvency legislation we are putting through tries to strike a balance for individuals so that, as often as possible, they can stay in their own homes and, for the banks, to force them to a degree to sit up and take notice. Strangely, one problem for the banks is that they do not have expertise to deal with mortgage arrears or how to deal with people who have run into difficulties. For so long the banks have been geared to throwing out hundreds, thousands and millions of euro to people that they have actually forgotten how to lend prudently and are now learning banking again. It has been made quite clear by the Minister and by everybody in government, fully supported by all backbenchers, that we can change insolvency legislation in this House if there is a sense the banks are not being reasonable with the people they are dealing with.

This mortgage arrears crisis is massive in terms of personal debt and loans to individuals, whether for buy-to-let, residential or second home mortgages. The sum involved is probably in the realm of €15 billion. The banks have been recapitalised for some - but not all - of this, so there is a need for us to be realistic as to what we can achieve. Both the insolvency legislation and this Bill try to reach that compromise.

I was in opposition long enough myself so I know what passes as the usual Opposition cant we rattle off whenever possible because we know we will never have to worry about it. It sounds good, gives a nice sound and makes people feel happy in themselves. However, one thing I know is that when one is in government one has to do things responsibly. Thank God we put the insolvency legislation through first. We have given people a chance and now it is important for those of us on this side of the House to watch what is happening and what the banks are doing. If at any point the Opposition parties would care to mature and grow up they should act like politicians who are well-paid, do their job properly and not try to mislead the people. People are fearful and are very concerned about what is going on. We still have very high rates of unemployment and very many people are concerned about their debts. However, we will ensure we are on their side as much as possible and will do the very best for them.

I ask members of the Opposition, as they have more time on their hands than members of Government, that if they come up with policy alternatives at least to try to make sure these are sensible propositions that the people will respect, rather than add to the fear people are experiencing at this time. It is a very difficult time: one that really hurts for many individuals. Some people know their debts have so much overwhelmed them they will lose their homes. In addition, they are concerned about being burdened by debts that are very much the responsibility of the lenders, how they will deal with these and write them off. Some people know that if the banks were a little more understanding of their plight they could work their way through this crisis but this will not be done in months; it will be done in years. Then there is the 85% of people with mortgages who are making their repayments, even though everybody who took out a mortgage since 2001 is in negative equity. That is difficult for many people, knowing they find themselves in this situation because the crisis was so huge. There was a 20% collapse in our economy in the course of a couple of years. Such a collapse does not recover easily and our property section will not recover easily. For that reason many people will carry their negative equity debt probably until the date they make their last mortgage repayment. That is difficult for people to stomach and there should be a more honest and fair appraisal of their situation rather than have it exploited for political gain in the short term.

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