Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Let me refer the Minister and the Government to the reality of this situation. Back in February of this year, it took Donegal's county registrar two hours and 29 minutes just to do a call-over of the motions list at Letterkenny courthouse. Two hours and 29 minutes. That day, there were some 271 people facing repossession in just one court sitting in a Donegal court. The people affected by this crisis are ordinary people. They are constituents whom you and I deal with every week.

As my colleagues have alluded to already, a total of 351 homes have been repossessed or surrendered in this State during the first quarter of 2015 alone. These are ordinary people, kicked from their homes directly into hostels or other emergency accommodation and a homeless system that is not fit for purpose. What is happening to the mortgage holders of this State is scandalous.

We have a situation in which banks, which came crawling with outstretched hands when they needed bailing out, are now failing the very people who were forced to do that bailing. The lack of gratitude is sickening. What is even more sickening is the Government's lack of initiative and its reluctance to embrace the change that is needed to solve this crisis for fear of upsetting the status quoas laid down by the banks.

In March of this year, the Minister for Finance had the gall to say that figures published by The Irish Timeson home repossessions were a reflection of banks' using the courts to force homeowners to engage with them rather actually repossessing houses. What sort of system is that for the Government and Central Bank to stand over? These are homeowners who have found themselves in dire straits. They deserve help, not intimidation. However, what we see is the banks ruling and the Government doing their bidding.

Sinn Féin is providing a real, credible solution. It is a solution that provides the control that is needed to stop the continuous downward spiral. This is a solution that can have an immediate effect on lives filled with worry and fear - those people who face sleepless nights wondering whether a letter taking the roof from over their heads will be slipped through the letter box in the morning. For the first time, here is a Bill to provide for a legal process whereby the regulator can set a cap on the standard variable rate that the covered institutions can charge. The Minister for Finance would be able to prod the regulator to undertake a review, which could lead to a rate being set. He could ask for reports on the use of these powers and make regulations on how they can be used. It is a solution that gives the Minister and the Central Bank the real power to deal with this crisis.

It is also a Bill designed for where we are today. Any cap to rates will lapse after 12 months unless the regulator renews it. After six months, a bank can make an appeal, which the regulator must consider. The legislation as a whole is designed to lapse at the end of 2017. This Bill is an extraordinary measure for extraordinary times. As my colleagues have all said, we cannot go on pretending we live in a normal banking environment. The banking sector is still a major drain on the economy. The banks must start playing their part in creating a fair recovery and the Government must, if needs be, have the power to make sure they do this.

We cannot wait, as has been suggested by the Government, until the budget to deal with this crisis. The banks are ripping off mortgage holders, and inaction is not an option. I urge the Minister to reconsider his position and to have the decency to help those mortgage holders who are in trouble by making the banks fulfil their moral obligation to give something back. I am mindful that all those ordinary people, the hundreds who have gone before the courts in deep distress, are observing the situation with IBRC and Siteserv and the deals that are done for the wealthiest people in this State. They must be asking themselves, "What in God's name is happening? Have we learned the lessons of the crisis that brought this State to its knees?".

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