Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Bill relates to a matter that occupies all of our thoughts and the motivation of Deputy Joan Collins must be acknowledged.

Like the previous speaker, I am a member of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform which has had all of the banks, and, most recently, the Governor of the Central Bank, before it. There is growing frustration with the progress that has been made to date. That said, the targets the banks have been set to achieve have only recently been finalised and they are at between the first quarter and the first half of that.

In contradiction of what Deputy Pearse Doherty stated, I would welcome the Minister, Deputy Shatter's, comment that he recognises "that in appropriate cases, the reconstruction of debt in mortgage arrangements will lead where appropriate to the writing off of a portion of outstanding capital. This is an approach and a reality that to date has been avoided by our financial institutions".

Having listened to the banks and the Governor of the Central Bank on a number of occasions, that statement of the Minister is true and I welcome it. The banks seem to be completely ignoring the reality that a significant amount of the capital that has been put into them by the Irish taxpayer must ultimately be used for the write-down of some portion of debt. Both Ministers, Deputies Shatter and Noonan, in conjunction with the Governor, who states he may require further legislation, are open to that. As we move towards the end of this process and tunnel down towards those who would pay if they could, who, if they were forced to leave their homes, would have nowhere else to go, and who would represent a significant burden on the State, that will require further legislation and guidelines. I welcome that the aforementioned Ministers and the Governor are more than aware of that.

We have a massive problem due the lack of potential to cobble together short-term debt with mortgage debt. Many are paying short-term debt because they must and they are not paying their mortgages. For example, a constituent who came in to me owes €18,000 in short-term debt which is costing him €1,035 a month. His €105,000 mortgage is costing him €735 a month. Together, these amount to a payment of €1,770 a month for debt of €123,000. If he could bundle it all together and re-mortgage, he would pay €850 a month, which he can afford. The mortgage lender, because his mortgage is in distress and because the other debts are with other institutions, does not want to take that on. That, of course, could be averaged out among the industry. That is something to which we must give further consideration.

See this speech in context