Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Before a repossession is ordered, the court must be satisfied that an arrangement is in force to deal with the residue of debt. In the event of repossession a family must be given a six-month period to arrange their affairs or nine months if they have children. We are trying to be family friendly and pro the borrower who is in the situation through no fault of his or her own. The people affected did not create the crisis. Many of them were in sustainable jobs which they thought would be for life, but, unfortunately, we are aware of what happened. It is important to make the vulture funds that have taken over some of the loan books comply with the code of conduct on mortgage arrears.

In addition to support from politicians, support is available for the Bill from some of the groups dealing with the issue on a day-to-day basis. New Beginnings welcomed the Bill. Mr. Ross Maguire said it would give the courts extra powers of responsibility in home repossession cases. He said it would two things: it would mandate the court to be satisfied that all efforts had been made to find a resolution through the MAR process or the personal insolvency process before agreeing to repossession. He said this would constitute a substantial safeguard for families struggling with debt. Second, it would force the banks to deal with the issue of negative equity through a debt write-off before repossession was granted.

The Bill contains many positives. It is disappointing that the Government cannot agree to move it forward. There is a problem, regardless of whether the Minister of State, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, accepts it. I believe he does accept that there is a problem, but he said the Bill would not solve it. Let us see the Government’s proposals. It is clear that the law, as it stands, is not working for everyone and that we need to broaden it. If the Government does not accept the Bill, surely it must bring an amendment before the House to put something else in place. Perhaps the Minister of State might give an indication of what the Government is planning to do to help families and safeguard the family home.

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