Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is difficult to follow Deputy Troy, who was very eloquent in his articulation of what needs to be done. Most of the solutions that have been put in place to address this issue are not actually solutions.

It appears the Government is hoping that if it sits there for long enough, this problem will solve itself and it will not be obliged to get involved. I am absolutely stunned that the Taoiseach thinks this Bill might be unconstitutional. I would be very surprised if he was given that legal advice. When one looks at the constitutional sections on private property, they state that one cannot pass a general law abolishing private property as happened in the Soviet Union, for example, during the 1930s. However, the Constitution does state that property rights are subject to the "exigencies of the common good". Were the Minister of State to check the emergency legislation Fianna Fáil introduced when it was in government on the advice of a well-informed Attorney General, he would notice that at the beginning of that legislation, there is paragraph after paragraph outlining the crisis we were in and stating that therefore, the exigencies of the common good meant that property rights, including pension rights and so one, could be interfered with. The Government of the day was given rough guidelines as to how far one could go with that interference. Nobody can be absolutely certain unless a court case is taken. The Government is stating that despite there being hundreds of thousands of people in mortgage crisis and despite the steps taken by the Government having been utterly ineffective, the exigencies of the common good do not involve curtailing the absolute veto of powerful banks against the people. I find that extraordinary. I find it extraordinary that anybody would believe a court in this country would rule that a curtailing in a detailed process of that right might be unconstitutional.

I compliment Deputy Michael McGrath on his excellent Bill and note Fianna Fáil does not suggest the mortgage holder should have the whip hand in this regard because the process involves allowing a judge in a court to make the final decision as to what is right and reasonable in the case. Therefore, the discretion or the balance is not on one side but it is a balanced solution.

See this speech in context