Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for the very pedantic correction. You are absolutely correct and we are grateful to have someone as accurate and precise as yourself in the Chair this evening.

It is an appropriate motion from Fianna Fáil at this time, when we are apparently seeing an extraordinary solution to the mortgage problem, supported by the Government. The solution appears to be the final capitulation to the banks. As a solution to the mortgage problem, it is open season for the banks on the victims, who are the people who hold mortgages in this country. We are seeing an extraordinary situation in which the banks are being given, with the consent of the Government and the consent of the Central Bank, a licence to harass their customers. The existing restriction limiting the number of contacts that they could make has been lifted. We have also seen the end of the moratorium on repossessions and we have seen legislation introduced in this House to facilitate repossessions from people who have mortgages which are in difficulty. The result of that will be to give the banks freedom to move where and when they choose, without restriction. It is back to business for the bankers. It is open season on the borrowers.

What will we see? My guess is that we will not see a rush of repossessions. That does not suit the banks, not just in public relations terms, but in practical terms. We will see selective repossessions. We will see examples made of soft targets. We will see those who are not necessarily in negative equity being selected; in fact, we will see those who have equity in their houses being selected by the banks, because the banks will be able to sell those and get something back. This will avoid what the banks so greatly fear, which is a crystallisation of the losses on their loans and a realistic acknowledgment of the fact that their balance sheets are bogus. They will hit a few people here, there and everywhere, but they will avoid the reality they do not want to face, which is the fact that they remain insolvent.

There is much talk about an Oireachtas inquiry into what happened in 2008. That is fair enough, but what is happening now? This crisis, which is building up now, has the potential to be as big if not bigger than the crisis that engulfed us in 2008. The latest figures underline this. There is no reason the inquiry should not extend to how decisions are being made now on the issue of mortgages in distress.

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