Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important motion, and I am glad it has been introduced. I remember writing a document in 2010 called Parked Percentage Mortgage Plan, which was eventually fed into the Keane report, which called it a split mortgage. This was a start, as at the time there was hardly anybody in the country who did not have some iron in the fire, having bought an expensive property or become over-leveraged. In the financial meltdown we experienced, people were wondering how to survive. However upsetting it is for businesses to go to the wall or for a person to experience the possibility of losing a job, the idea that one could lose one's home was terrifying. At that stage, the basis of a process for dealing with this was put in place. We should have no doubt that the banks were not in a position or they lacked the skill set to deal with the issue. They made many mistakes, but, like everybody else, I can only give most of the banks credit for the way they are starting to deal with the problem now. As most Members are aware from people attending their clinics, we have had discussions with banks about people in genuine long-term distress. The matter has to be dealt with on a one-to-one basis. One cannot advertise such cases, but they are very important to those involved. The formulation of solutions is for people in serious financial difficulty. A case of arrears by itself is not enough; the arrears must be of such a scale that they cannot be tackled.

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