Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Many of the 300,000 variable rate mortgage holders will have received mortgages for the same reason as generations of borrowers before them. Their motivation was not one of greed. They were motivated by the desire to set up a home, live independently and have security of tenure. In this country, one does not really have a choice if one wants security of tenure. This is not the case under housing policies in other European countries, where there is less dependence on homeownership. The lending institutions here could not find enough people to lend to and they were questioning whether they were borrowing enough. The same lending institutions now pick and choose and treat some of the borrowers in a way that puts them into even more difficulty. Many of those in most difficulty will have borrowed in the four or five years prior to the crash, when tens of thousands of houses were built every year. They have to listen to the rubbish that we all went mad, we all partied and we were motivated by greed, although all they wanted was a roof over their heads and to live in the same way as previous generations, namely by setting up home and paying their own way.

The Taoiseach said this morning that he was not happy. It is not enough for him not to be happy; he has to do something about it. If the banks do not do something about it, the only people that can will not be the 300,000 people subject to a higher mortgage rate but the members of the Government. Many of the 300,000 people will lose their homes. They are barely managing and may be in negative equity. Some of them feature in the ongoing court cases brought by banks seeking repossessions. Some of the borrowers' homes will be repossessed and at the same time we will see banks sold off. It is the State and taxpayer who will ultimately pick up the tab. At this point, it ought to be recognised that there is a problem. It is a problem for all of us and there needs to be a solution. It is simply immoral not to pass on the reductions to people with variable interest rates.

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