Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister said, the new code of conduct on mortgage arrears came into force yesterday. There is no doubt that the banks are enjoying the fact that the Government and the Central Bank have let them off the leash. In recent months there has been a major spike in the number of people whose mortgages are in distress contacting my constituency offices in Donegal. The distress to which I refer takes a number of forms. We continually refer to mortgage and financial distress but there is also the distress which happens behind closed doors. Such distress puts pressure on individuals and families. In some cases it can lead to marital breakdown, while in others it has obliged people to leave the country - I have met some of them while travelling abroad - in order that they might find better opportunities which will allow them to repay their mortgages here. Unfortunately, and this has been attested in the courts, it has also led to a number of people taking their own lives. We must be conscious here of what we are discussing. We are not, for example, concerned simply with a sheet of paper containing numbers, statistics, percentages and values, what is at issue here is real people and real suffering.

As already stated, the banks have been let off the leash. That is not surprising because this is the Government's plan. I stated previously that I very much hope the new targets will work. It is my view that an independent body should be established to adjudicate on this matter. The new code of conduct on mortgage arrears will mean nothing more than harassment of people. Who demanded the mechanism whereby it will be possible for a bank to repossess, within three months, the property of someone who is being unco-operative? The banks will only be obliged to produce flimsy evidence of people being uncooperative and their staff will be able to carry out home visits. Report Stage of the Bill relating to the Dunne judgment, which will allow repossessions to happen, is to be taken tomorrow. The fact that the banks retain their veto clearly shows that the Government is on their side. Even at this late stage, will the Minister not agree with some of those who have made submissions - including myself on behalf of my party - to leave the code of conduct as it stands or to try to strengthen it in favour of consumers rather than the banks? Will he not consider pulling back from his current position on the code of conduct? The code is clearly an aggressive move which supports the banks and which will place some consumers under serious financial and other pressures.

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