Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste's response is just not good enough. I asked her a specific question about Mr. Honohan's criticisms and her potentially inaccurate response to a parliamentary question I tabled on Tuesday. I would expect that the veracity of a reply to a parliamentary question on an issue like this would have been checked before it was issued. Under the European Court of Justice ruling, "the national court is required to assess of its own motion whether a contractual term falling within the scope of the directive is unfair, compensating in its own way for the imbalance which exists between the consumer or the seller or supplier" of a service.

The implications of the failure of the courts to adhere to the requirements of EU consumer protection law are potentially extremely serious. It appears that repossession orders are being granted without the courts taking the initiative to assess whether mortgage contracts are unfair. This is clearly a denial of people's rights by the courts. Are repossessions happening without people being afforded their rights and does this expose the State to legal challenge due to its failure to adhere to the requirements of EU law?

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