Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with the three mechanisms the Minister of State mentioned. The website is no good for somebody who risks losing the roof over his or her head.

With regard to the personal insolvency legislation, the point is that the power rests with the banks. The banks' sole objective is to return to profitability and they do not care about the consequences for families throughout the country. The banks' response to the mortgage arrears resolution targets programme was to issue letters with threats of legal proceedings to the people concerned.

The Minister of State referred to restructuring. It is acknowledged that there has been some restructuring, but we do not know how sustainable that restructuring will be. I gave an example of what one of the banks had done with one of my constituents. The banks have added the arrears to the capital and just extended the period of time. If the people involved could not afford the mortgage in the first instance, how will they be able to afford it plus the arrears over a longer period of time?

My party put forward real and progressive proposals to solve these problems. One was to establish an independent arbitrator who could instruct the banks to take a particular course of action. It would remove the power from the banks and give the people who had got into difficulty through no fault of their own a better chance of securing a sustainable solution for the future. Consider what is expected to happen next year. According to a recent report, a number of buy-to-let mortgages that were taken out during the boom with interest-only repayments are due to revert to interest and capital repayments. In some instances, the repayment will be quadruple the current repayment. I am told that will happen next year. This will lead to more problems as investors will sell rental properties. That will leave more people out on the streets and we already have a homelessness crisis. We must amend the personal insolvency legislation to remove the banks' veto over a resolution.

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