Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I just won a court case on the basis of a constitutional article, on the defence of the right to protest. I thank the Minister. I would like to think I did my bit to uphold the Constitution.

More needs to be done. The vulture funds have to be stopped. Their mortgage books should be brought into public ownership under compulsory purchase with the sale price as a maximum. That was suggested by the Master of the High Court. The sale of State shares in the banks must be halted. It is a disgrace that it is going ahead in what is effectively a fire sale, handing the banks back to the private sector to pursue profit at the expense of householders and of the economy given the weight of mortgages on the economy as a whole. Instead, let us use the banks as a public utility, democratically run, which, as part of their role, could write down mortgages to affordable levels.

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