Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will try not to make Deputy Smith anxious. I wish to raise concerns around the Courts Bill 2016, which proposes to have eviction and repossession cases returned to the Circuit Court, where we know they have failed. The Circuit Court is not fit for purpose and many cases are dealt with by county registrars with no experience in the Judiciary.

The nonsense has been put around by many barristers in the Law Library and, indeed, by some of them in this House, that this will save families extra money. It is total nonsense and is not true. We have to be very careful. Some 8,000 cases have now been held up or have collapsed. The Courts Bill, which intends to change that, cannot be backdated in order the persecute all of those people. There are 200,000 empty properties due to the banks and evictions. We are looking in the wrong place with the housing crisis. We need to look at what is happening with the banks and the courts. This new Bill needs to be amended.

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