Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I, too, am delighted to be able to speak on this well-researched and timely Bill, introduced by Deputy Joan Collins, whom I compliment on her work and examination of the circumstances that led to this savage problem in other countries. I am saddened, but not surprised, by the response of the Government. It is a sad indictment of the Government. I compliment Deputy McHugh and others who have agreed a path with us and who understand the circumstances. We all know – we have a small bit of savvy – what is going on. We know the banks are controlling everything and about how the bankers, regulator, or the lack of regulators, and politicians and senior public servants allowed the mess to occur. None of them has been challenged and the ordinary people are left to carry the load. Every day, especially during the last term, legislation is introduced by the Government to get over the Dunne case, which stopped repossessions. The Government introduced a Bill with a lovely title, the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill. It should have called it what it was, the eviction Bill. I have an eviction notice in my hand that a family in Cork received . It was delivered by the sheriff on 9 September 2013 and pertains to Start Mortgages. The letter tells the family in question to vacate the property in ten days or else face eviction. Are we going back to the Peep o' Day Boys and the landlords? Irish people fought against what they represent. What more noble idea or dream could working people have than to get married or become involved in a relationship, take out a mortgage, house themselves and live a normal life? The problems were allowed to continue in a frenzy and regulators laughed. Those who were challenged, including prime ministers and taoisigh, said the people giving warnings should go away and commit suicide. What more arrogant and insulting behaviour could the Government engage in than the behaviour that resulted in its having passed the legislation in question?

The Government also introduced legislation establishing the personal insolvency agency. It is all window-dressing for the bankers who created the mess, the people whom we bailed out. I voted for the bailout. I was warned of the abyss, but how much worse could the abyss have been had we not had a bailout? We were fooled, tricked and lied to by the banks. We heard the tapes of the bankers who were laughing and scoffing about how they fooled everyone.

The referendum on the court of appeal is on Friday, again to allow bankers to put people out of their homes. Many people in desperation have exhausted all the available court remedies. They do not get much satisfaction or solace in court. Many are appealing to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort, which is causing a problem for the bankers. Therefore, the Government has to do something about it, on the instruction of Ms Merkel and co. and the troika. Here we are, bowed down again, and we hope to get rid of our second Chamber, which might have a bit of sanity. The legislation is not even being debated and people are sleepwalking into a court of appeal. There is no detail on how many judges will be appointed, the kind of court it will be and how much money the barristers will charge. It is all regarded as fine. It is a question of putting the clock ticking in the belief free legal aid will deal with the fees, or in the belief that the clients, who cannot pay, will pay. The meters will be ticking for the fat cats to get richer while ordinary people and families are in desperation over the great extent of the crisis.

We can ignore it all we like and we can have the Taoiseach denying it every morning on the Order of Business and during Leader's Questions, but the reality is that it is a time bomb waiting to go off. We cannot house the families on the housing waiting lists, as Deputy Seamus Healy said. In my constituency, the waiting list is very long as it is. Are we going to force all of these people onto those lists? Are we going to allow young families to be terrorised by sheriffs? It is shocking that any family would have threatening letters passed on to them and have all of the forces of the State coming down on them. Thankfully, the good people of Kanturk have rallied around that particular family and have gone to the High Court in an effort to assist them. They are looking for some mercy, and here we are trying to interfere with the courts by introducing a new court of appeal.

I can see that my time is up. I could continue speaking for hours-----

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