Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wonder sometimes about the economics of this matter. If I remember rightly, the Minister made the point last year that she was not going to be able to avail of the mortgage interest supplement for the first year. She said she was going to try to force the banks to deal with people. They have done that, but very slowly. The Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform examined this matter during the year and saw that some of what the banks did was an excuse for contact in that all they had done was to send out letters.

It has failed from the point of view of getting the banks to deal with people in a way that results in sustainable ways forward for people who cannot repay their mortgages. The presumption is that people will be out of work for a full year. What will happen if people are out of work for short periods during the year? The mortgage interest supplement allowed people in such situations to at least meet the interest portion of their repayments, thereby not reaching the point of having to defer payments into the future. No provision is made for this type of flexibility in respect of people who find themselves temporarily unemployed and who on return to work can again take up paying their mortgages.

This issue cannot be looked at in isolation. Account must also be taken of how the banks have handled over-borrowing and unsustainable borrowing. The thinking behind what was put in place last year has not resulted in the delivery of the types of permanent solution which I think even the Minister was hoping for. What is the point of making this decision when clearly what was intended last year has not produced the result the Minister herself had expected?

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