Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State tried to correct the record regarding something I apparently said. I quoted directly from the Central Bank's quarterly mortgage arrears statistics and referred to the commencement of legal proceedings in quarter 1, which was 1,645. I did not mention anything about civil bills for repossession or Courts Service statistics. The Minister of State did not know that because he was handed a script by the Civil Service, which seems to be the way the Government operates.

The message from the Government tonight for the 33,000 mortgage account holders, who probably represent approximately 100,000 people, who are in arrears of two years or more is that those people are in very serious trouble. There is a completely dysfunctional and unworkable mortgage-to-rent scheme, as Deputy Thomas Byrne correctly pointed out. There is no safety net for them. We have all had individual cases where people were taken up to the top of the hill by approved housing bodies, local authorities and the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government only to have it flop at the last minute. Repossession orders were put in place and the mortgage-to-rent scheme was pulled from underneath them. Just over a year ago, the Government made promises. That is why I was so interested that the Independent Alliance, which made great play at the time, did not even bother to show up. Where is the new mortgage arrears court? Not a single mention of it was made in 20 minutes of contributions from prepared scripts by either the Minister or the Minister of State. Clearly, it is not going to happen. It is not a Government priority. There were references to the amendment of the code of conduct to place an obligation on lenders to provide a range of sustainable arrears solutions. We have had no amendments whatsoever.

The constitutionality of Bills seems now to have become a very elastic concept and a very convenient defence for Government which has no interest in supporting Opposition legislation. The constitutional provision around property rights is not absolute. The Constitution also provides for the common good and contains principles of social justice. It refers to an "unjust attack". It is very clear that property rights in the Constitution are conditional and by no means absolute. In reality, deals put forward through the insolvency process are being rejected left, right and centre, including by banks in which the State continues to hold a very significant shareholding. People are being forced, if they qualify, to go through an appeals mechanism which never seems to end. Banks throw endless resources at that by way of barristers, the filing of affidavits and applications for adjournments.

The Bill is not perfect but it is a genuine attempt by an Opposition party to address a huge issue in our society. Nothing was said by any Minister in government tonight to give comfort to anyone caught in the mire of mortgage arrears. I appreciate the support of others in the House and hope the Bill passes Second Stage tomorrow, proceeds to proper scrutiny and sees the light of day with its key provisions enacted as law.

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