Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ironically, we listened to the spring statement today. Everyone welcomes good news and we do not want to be pessimistic, but as that debate was happening, I glanced at my telephone and saw that a family of six in Cork was sleeping in a car. This is the Ireland in which we live. We must ask ourselves where we are going as a nation.

In recent months in particular, more people have approached politicians. We acknowledge the work done by Mr. David Hall, the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, and other groups. From speaking with a large number of people in recent weeks, the arrogance being shown to them by banks is unsustainable. In that time, I have gone with people to try to resolve problems, but the banks hold the cards and are telling people what to do. This cannot continue. We must put the banks into a corner and bear something in mind - when they knocked on the former Government's door in the middle of the night in their hour of need, we as a nation put €65 billion behind them. Now, when people in family homes across the country genuinely need help, the banks are giving them the two fingers.

There is a fear among families. An old saying down the country is that, when poverty comes in the door, love goes out the window. People are living in dire straits. The Government must consider all of the knock-on effects on families, for example, separations or something that none of us wishes to hear about, namely, suicide. It has happened. Banks have much to answer for, given their arrogance. The Government cannot just wave a magic wand and tell them to do this, that and the other.

Pressure must be put on the Central Bank to ensure the banks engage in a constructive way. The priority must be to protect the family home, which is part of the fabric of Irish society and of enormous importance to all families, especially where there are young children.

We talk all the time in here about what must be done to resolve housing issues in different parts of the country. I attended a meeting in Leitrim yesterday where I spoke to the local authority's housing officers, as I have done in the case of various councils. There is always discussion about building houses and so on. The reality, however, is that something might be announced in October, but by the time the greenfield site is ready, planning is secured and so on, it will probably be a year or 14 months before the project is up and running. What can we do when people are under pressure but there are no houses in which to accommodate them? There was a case in my own area where a family was evicted and, within five years, the State, through the provision of rent allowance, had paid back the price of the house, in which somebody else was now living.

The Government has acknowledged the merits in Deputy Donnelly's proposals, but they need to take them on board and drive on towards a resolution of this crisis. This is a problem people on all sides of the House are encountering in their constituencies. It is a problem for every politician to solve and an issue of great urgency for the nation. I urge the Minister of State and his colleagues to work with Deputy Donnelly to get these issues resolved.

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