Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are two substantive issues contained within the question that the Deputy put. In the first instance, I want to say that I fully understand the anxiety and stress that many individual mortgage holders, many people with personal loans and many small and medium-sized enterprises feel in terms of the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on their capacity to repay loans and on the general economic situation. It has to be said that the payment breaks were invaluable to thousands of people in respect of those breaks over six months. Irish SMEs in particular had the highest share of loan repayment breaks up to September. What is interesting is that quite a majority of people were in a position to return to normal repayments after the initial three-month payment break. Elements of Ireland's payment break system compare favourably to other countries in some aspects, in particular the length of the payment break, the wide-ranging nature of the payment break and its uniformity across the system. That is not the same in other European countries.

The meeting yesterday was not a facade. It was a genuine engagement, as there has been continuing genuine engagements between the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy McGrath, and the Tánaiste with the banks in terms of ensuring that people are treated fairly and seriously in a sensitive and sensible way. Again, it is important to point out that the 30 September deadline refers to new applications for payment breaks after that date. It is a regulatory application deadline set down by the European Banking Authority. That is the key point in respect of that. It is not the cliff edge, as has been presented in terms of various presentations. There are various protections for consumers and people in mortgage arrears or in difficulties with their loans. Those protections will continue. Government will continue to engage with the banking system to ensure a sensitive and sympathetic approach is adopted. People will obviously have to continue to engage. The next phase is individually tailored approaches to individual loans with a view to providing alternative solutions and proposals for those borrowers in different situations, such as interest-only payments or different approaches that can be adopted by the banks.

In respect of the former Senator and Minister of State, Michael D'Arcy, I believe there should be an effective cooling off period. I am not happy, or in any way comfortable, with people who have been in office taking up positions, particularly in the area they had jurisdiction over or responsibility for, immediately after or within months of having left office. I believe the legislation should be reviewed. Government agreed this morning that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will initiate a review of the standards in public office legislation in that respect.

More widely, I have long been concerned at the fact that parties and movements can raise foreign donations to an extraordinary amount. I think that should be examined by the Standards in Public Office Commission. Deputy McDonald's party has raised $15 million over the years in the United States. I worry about that. That money has been raised from big vested interests, from construction and financial elites, in the United States with which Deputy McDonald seems to have no difficulty. Referendums have been influenced by large amounts of money the origins of which we do not know. That is a more fundamental area to our democracy. Some people have funded projects, including commemorative projects celebrating 1916 and so on. My understanding is that one particular project - I am open to correction and Deputy McDonald might correct me - was funded by loans from abroad but there was a political agenda attached to that as well.

I would favour a review and reform of the SIPO legislation. Any cooling-off period should have the force of law and sanctions and penalties attached to it. That review is on the way by the Government now.

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