David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It has been reported that the Minister for Finance met officials from KBC Bank Ireland in January to reassure them of his and the Government's support in the wake of the forced eviction of a Roscommon family last year and the controversy that followed. A document released by thejournal.iesuggests that the Minister would "fully accept that repossessions are part of the normal financial services landscape and that it must be possible to enforce security as a final resort when all else has failed". I wonder if the Minister has met the victims of evictions. I would say that he did not. This demonstrates again that Fine Gael sides with banks and it will always side with the cosseted privileged class in this State. Time would have been better spent by the Minister and the Government if they had amended the Private Security Services Act 2004 to ensure proper regulation and oversight in the area. Of course, Fine Gael does not do this but instead it sends cosy letters and has cosy meetings with bank officials to reassure them that everything is okay as they try to brutally evict families from homes. It is wrong and the meeting should not have taken place in the way it did. Is the Government minded to amend the Private Security Services Act 2004?

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