Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be frank, that is a meaningless response. The Taoiseach made reference to adjustments and named three items that are not adjustments at all. Making people aware of something is not changing anything. An independent audit of how poorly a system is working is not changing anything, with only 199 cases concluded to date. The third point I could not quite understand, to be frank. The Taoiseach said there were options open to borrowers and he drifted off into an inaudible whisper. I mean it sincerely when I say that I did not catch the third point.

The Minister for Finance insisted that the Government is watching the situation very carefully and is also watching the way in which the insolvency legislation is being applied. He said the Government is very conscious of the policy. It was Deputy Noonan who said that the banks were using the courts to get people to engage with them who have not done so thus far. I brought an example of a case before the Taoiseach last week, where the couple involved were working for over two years to try to get the bank to engage.

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