Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tonight the Government has an opportunity to do something it has not done since it entered office following the collapsing of the economy and our society by Fianna Fáil in collaboration with the banks and their powerful interests. In those dark days the banks ran roughshod over the people and the State authorities mandated to protect them, most especially the Central Bank, abrogated their responsibilities. Images and scenes that we thought had been consigned to the history books and would never see again have re-emerged, all under the watch of the Fine Gael-led Government. Unprecedented numbers of citizens are lying in sleeping bags on footpaths tonight in cities and towns throughout Ireland. This has developed as a direct result of the Government's failed housing policies. Families are sleeping in Garda stations, bed and breakfast accommodation, hotels and so-called temporary solutions. The Government has stood on the side of the banks and against ordinary people who sustain Ireland as a society. The ordinary people of Ireland want to live in a society, but it seems that the Government wants us to live in an economy. Let us put this notion right. The Government - Fine Gael and its Independent colleagues - can outline which side it is on: it is either on the side of the banks or the people. I do not accept the red herring that enactment of this legislation would lead to higher mortgage interest rates. We already have the highest interest rates in Europe, again, under the watch of Fine Gael in government. It has failed to take on the power of the banks and the markets because it sees them as allies. It has allowed vultures into the country because it will not interfere or upset the market, but it will happily sit back and watch families being dragged by the ears from their homes by the banks and their thugs.

I commend Teachta Pearse Doherty on bringing forth this legislation. I suggest a significant majority of the people will also commend him. Again, I advise the Government has a choice. It can put power back with the people and statutorily provide for their legal consent or it can ignore our needs and interests at its political peril.

See this speech in context