Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

With this Bill, Sinn Féin and Deputy Pearse Doherty are asking for nothing more than for the Government to do what it said it would: to act forcefully and decisively with banks to protect the public and, among them, the homeowners who bailed out these banks. In truth, the steps contained in the Bill would only be a small but important move towards making that commitment a reality. If it chooses to oppose this Bill, the Government will again be stating clearly that commitments to be strong and to act in the interests of the people are just something Labour and Fine Gael do at election time.

When Fine Gael and Labour took office, they took charge of quite a mess. Following a catastrophic bank bailout led by Fianna Fáil, which lied to our faces, many mortgage holders were left in dire straits, with falling incomes and big mortgages. The banks were ripping off Irish mortgage holders and a new firm hand was needed to bring these banks into line and protect homeowners. We were to be in no doubt of the intentions of the Government to change things. It did indeed change things in many respects, but it has not changed the situation of mortgage holders, who continue to be mistreated by the banks they bailed out.

The Government have been very good at showing little concern for the interests of many sections of society, such as the homeless, single parents, children, young women, students and Travellers, and the list goes on. However, it has been all too eager to protect the interests of those running these bailed-out banks, which have continued to ride rough-shod over the people of the State. The hands-off, softly-softly, laissez-faireattitude must end. We need that forceful and decisive hand in dealing with the banks that Deputy Eamon Gilmore promised us four years ago.

This Bill would be part of that change. This Bill is on the side of the homeowners of Ireland, not the banks, a position utterly absent from the Government's actions. The Bill would introduce a legal process to allow the Financial Regulator to set down a cap on the standard variable rate in bailed-out institutions.

It also gives power to the Minister for Finance to tell the regulator to set a cap should it not act on this power, and to seek reviews and reports on the use of this power by the regulator as well as setting regulations for its use. Depending on the context of the time, a cap does not have to be set, but should it benefit the public good the power is there to be used when and as needed. The regulator will be mandated to consider a number of factors when using this power, most crucially the impact on mortgage holders. This is a fair, reasonable and proportionate proposal which will tackle seriously a problem which should never have come to be, but has in any case been allowed to continue for too long.

The time for asking banks to comply with any notion of fairness is over. It is now time to tell the banks how things will be and what their responsibility is to the public who saved them. It is not acceptable that banks bailed out by our citizens should ignore their plight. As Deputy Pearse Doherty said, this is an extraordinary measure for extraordinary times. It is borne out of the need to tackle a problem which has only been allowed to grow and cause wider issues.

The public still carries these banks. They must now play their part in making things better for struggling families and bringing fairness to their treatment of their customers. We provided an opportunity to tackle this problem earlier with the Interest Rate Approval Bill, but it was rejected. Now, as time has passed, stronger measures are required and a cap is needed. The Minister said the issue would be considered in the budget. We do not have time to waste.

When the House breaks for the summer, the struggles of families with variable rate mortgages will continue. They do not want to wait and see what will happen. They have done that for four years under this Government as they paid a rate which is higher than anywhere else in Europe and more than 1.4% higher than the median rate. The time to be decisive and forceful is now. It is already long overdue. Sinn Féin would consider going further than this Bill, but we have attempted to put forward a plan for tackling this problem that the Government would support. We want to see some action rather than no action at all.

The Bill should be supported. We should all support and back any citizens forced out of their homes as a result of unsustainable mortgages and interest rates. The Bill would be a further step in addressing the major mortgage crisis and the subsequent consequences for society in general. Supporting it is the right thing to do and will send out a strong message that, above all, people matter.

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