Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am responding to the points the Deputy made and it is up to him to decide whether he wants to listen to what I have to say. In view of his continual requests for dialogue, I would have thought he might be interested in my response.

From my recollection of the contents of the reports compiled by Regling and Watson, Professor Honohan and others, the Deputy is correct to state they place a great deal of focus, as should have been the case, on the banking guarantee. I also recall that some of the reports examine the events leading up to its introduction.

A number of Deputies have asked why we are opposed to the Bill. There are two legislative based reasons for our opposition. I again recognise the work done by Deputy Pearse Doherty and his colleagues in drafting the Bill, but I must highlight the two main reasons for our opposition to it. The first is that the proposed amendment to section 2 of the 2012 Act would undermine the ability of the courts to recognise people's individual circumstances and request that arrangements be put in place for them. We are also of the view that the proposed amendment would place a limitation on the ability of the courts to do the work envisaged for them in the Bill. We are of the view that if the amendment were to be accepted, it would open the arrangements that would be reached to legal challenge. In the light of what the Bill seeks to do, this would prove completely counter-productive.

The second reason to which I refer is that account is not taken of the fact that the courts already recognise the role played by the CCMA, that they examine the position of lenders seeking to repossess principal private properties and that they ask whether the latter have acted in a way which is in accordance with the code. There are a number of reasons we are opposing the Bill, but I have focused on the two main ones. As the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, stated, we will continue to evaluate the laws and services in place in order to ensure the crisis relating to personal debt will be dealt with in a way that is fair both to the people unfortunate enough to have been affected by it and the broader interests within society.

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