Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate that it sounds as though progress is being made but it would be very useful to have timelines against these proposals. I am sure the Minister has been contacted by people. I am being contacted by people from all over Wicklow and all around the State. They know big changes are afoot and ambitious targets and changes are being put into the programme for Government but they say to me, "I am in court on Monday so what should I do?", or "I am in court in two months time so will these measures be in place for me?". Perhaps the Minister will clarify if it would be possible to put some deadlines against these measures. We all know that things can drift and these issues are pressing for families all over the country right now. Will the Minister issue a statement to the House on his expected deadlines for implementation? Does the Minister believe it is reasonable - I hope he does - to issue a moratorium to the banks which would hopefully be just for a few weeks or a few months to say that as the new regime gets into place people who are currently in proceedings should be able to avail of those measures?

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