Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government has been basking in what it reckons are good employment and Exchequer returns figures in the past few days. The Bill put its finger on the great weakness in the figures coming through. There is human suffering going on and a seriously good Bill like this is being turned down to perpetuate people being evicted and homes being repossessed. This is unacceptable and what is extraordinary is that the enormous problem, which everyone acknowledges and every Deputy finds in every constituency, is not being tackled by the Government. The Government has missed every target and evictions are about to begin in an organised and distasteful way, yet Members are sitting back and saying they do not accept a Bill like this. The big difference between Deputy Michael McGrath's Bill and the Government's attitude is the craven way in which the Government has continuously allowed the banks to have the last say on mortgages. The Bill removes that, although I do not think it is radical enough.

I do not see any reason why those who provided the initial reckless loans, and undoubtedly they were reckless loans, should be given the power to review and decide the new terms of those loans and to not support the solutions proposed under this Bill. The solution to the problem lies in debt forgiveness. That is where we need to start because it acknowledges the fact that the banks rather than the borrowers made the mistakes.

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