Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

There is a proposal today for the suffering former residents of Priory Hall, which involves cancellation of their mortgages - as we know, they were on a criminally compromised residential complex, which was a fire trap - State-sponsored remediation of the fire hazard, and new secure homes for a range of people. The residents are considering those proposals and I will not transgress on that matter. They are the type of solutions that some of us suggested two years ago when this scandal came to light. Yet for two years suffering has been imposed on people while the Government dragged its feet.

Can the Taoiseach not learn the lesson of the mortgage arrears crisis? There have already been years of agony for many home-owners who were forced to buy their homes at blackmail prices, in that era of speculators, profiteers and bondholders, as well as governments under their sway. There were years of agony as the crash inevitably happened. They have been left with massive negative equity and unsustainable monthly mortgages. On numerous occasions, I have called for an overall solution, that is, the wiping out of negative equity, calibrating down to the real value of those properties for their owner-occupiers, and calibrating down monthly repayments. That is the solution which would end the suffering. It would make the lives of so many people so much better. In addition, it would release huge new amounts of liquidity funds into the real economy providing jobs and services because people would not be shackled to the banks 24 hours a day, all year round.

Although, admittedly, there will then probably be a new face in the Taoiseach's position, rather than Deputy Kenny's, will we be back here in two, three or five years with the same suffering? Can the Taoiseach not learn the lesson? Will he bring that message to the next meeting of his Cabinet sub-committee on mortgage arrears and move on it?

See this speech in context