Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his contribution, but he must use his influence. I accept he cannot interfere in the insurance market, but his influence is very important. I do not think it is acceptable at all to say that things can be delayed, because that effectively means the person has lost their house, and to wish them luck and tell them they must search again.

The Minister of State knows the stress on the people looking for houses and the competition out there. It is just not good enough to say there is a delay because of Covid-19. Why is Covid-19 influencing this matter? In the past people were able to get mortgages who had type 1 diabetes and because of Covid-19, there is a delay for them. That is totally unacceptable.

If the Minister of State used his own moral compass to judge this, he would come to the same conclusion that this is not acceptable and should not be allowed. There are many more other examples and I have just mentioned one couple. There is no doubt that this bad practice is going on but it should not be allowed. People are punished enough and have many problems in life so they should not be penalised even further.

These people pay more now to rent a home than they would if they had a mortgage. This has put huge strain on the family in question and their resources. If the process is delayed and they lose the property, they will be under further strain and may be subject to price increases. The house they had in mind might be gone. It is just not good enough and the federation should be more sympathetic to people in these positions and not impose such rules. It is an absolute scandal that it is allowed to use Covid-19 as an excuse.

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