Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have different issues in terms of the Rebuilding Ireland home loans. I welcome the package in principle, and I wish to acknowledge the local authorities and the number of people they have helped get on the housing ladder over recent years. I want to talk about people who had mortgages but for various reasons lost them. A good example would be a person who lost his or her mortgage because of the financial crisis. People had big mortgages then. Family separations or people who are still on an income rate which is too low for the banks are other examples. Can we make a special case for people who are prepared to go back into the housing market and own their own house? Can those people be considered under this package? These people have the income but cannot go back to the banks.

They would have a good credit rating. It is ironic that developers who became bankrupt and went across the water for a few years were able to come back with a clean sheet, while the people in question will be carrying a black tag over their heads with the credit rating agencies for the rest of their lives. Could an option be included in the scheme to provide for an exemption to enable them to get a loan from their local authority?

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