Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What happened in County Roscommon is evidence of what is seen in many parts of the country. People are very angry that the banks which bankrupted the country are sending in security firms to evict people from their homes in the most abusive manner. While the security firm in this case is based across the Border, many of the security firms involved in other places are based in Dublin, Carlow and Longford, among other counties and they, too, are acting in the most abusive fashion. Something has to be done to rein them in. Clearly, there is a need to put legislation in place. It is welcome that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, has acknowledged that this needs to happen. Legislation needs to be brought up to date to ensure the particular groups involved - they are thugs really - will be reined in and regulated properly.

Another issue is that the banks are not dealing with people. We should not be talking about this as a justice matter but as an issue that is being dealt with appropriately by the banks. Many borrowers approach them to try to make deals, but they cannot do so because the banks will not deal with them, which is simply wrong. The banks need to be brought to account.

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