Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak about this matter and thank the Opposition for raising it as it is extremely important. Buying a home, be it a house or an apartment, is the biggest investment most people will make in their lives; therefore, it is important that we, as legislators, discuss this issue and try to bring forward measures to assist thsoe in distress. It does not matter which side of the House we occupy; nobody wants to see a family, couple or an individual fall behind on a mortgage or be evicted. We want to give young people and young families the opportunity to step onto the property ladder - I am 28 years old and would like to do so in a number of years.

This is still a daunting issue because not long ago the property bubble caused extremely high house prices and once it burst there was an extraordinary drop in values. Ultimately, the entire property market collapsed and we are still trying to deal with the consequences. As a Government, Fine Gael and the Labour Party have tried to address this issue by putting arrangements in place to assist people. I am referring to the Personal Insolvency Act and the creation of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS. There are issues around MABS and not everyone agrees that it performs its duties as well as possible. The Government is trying its best. The mortgage to rent scheme was launched in 2012 and enables eligible individuals to remain in their homes. The number of accounts that have been in arrears for over 90 days continues to fall and we are moving in the right direction, although I agree that a figure of over 69,000 is still too high. Most importantly, I have spoken to a number people of my age who say that without mortgage interest relief for first-time buyers, they do not know where they would be. They do not know if they would still be in their homes and able to maintain making payments. The Government has taken many actions to help people, but some problems persist. If a person in mortgage distress cannot speak to someone in a financial institution on the telephone, there is a serious problem. A man in my constituency is a single parent and has worked his entire life. Like many, he lost his job and was unable to keep up making full payments on his mortgage, but he never failed to pay back something. He paid over €600 every month for four years, but he now owes over €50,000 more than he did when he first took out the mortgage. I do not know how anyone could do what he did, given the pressure he was put under, and he has now reached an agreement to pay €500 less per month, but it took a year to make contact with the bank. It is unacceptable that this should happen nowadays and banks should take note of such cases. We are moving in the right direction, but we all come across cases such this on a daily basis and must deal with them.

I thank Phoenix Project, an organisation in County Offaly, because it helps people like the man I mentioned to deal with banks and speak to them. We have come a long way, but we must ensure there is not another property bubble. It is worrying that house prices are rising - it is not happening everywhere in Ireland, but it is evident in Dublin.

An interested party is quite likely to come across a viewing of a house where there are 50 people standing outside all bidding for that same house while the price is going up and up because of demand. We need to be very careful with that.

The Central Bank is trying to address the problem and has put forward a motion that first-time buyers should have 20% upfront when buying a house. While I understand where the bank is coming from I believe that is too much. As a said earlier, I am 28 years old and I am keen to get on the property ladder myself, but I know from speaking to my peers and other young families that 20% is simply too much to ask first-time buyers to put forward for a home. I am calling for the proposed level to be halved, reduced to 10% or a maximum of 15% to allow people to get on the property ladder.

While we have seen a major increase in the number of people who have been assisted with their mortgages, there is still a long way to go. I welcome the debate and I am glad the Opposition has brought forward the topic for debate.

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