Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Essentially, this Bill is a move by the State to hand out the current work undertaken by county sheriffs to registered or private firms. It looks like Cromwell is back. We all remember what happened in Roscommon and the shocking scenes that were shown all over Ireland. Is that what this Bill is going to allow happen? Are we going back in time to when Irish people were evicted from their homes and forced to watch as the landlords burned down their homes and took their livelihoods away?

This Bill states that an enforcement guard will be authorised to remove persons from any premises and to take possession of those premises. Staff in various sheriffs' offices have said they are not supportive of the Bill because public jobs will be lost. It also means that a much less compassionate understanding of a debtor’s situation. Ultimately, under section 2, any private firm could operate as a debt collector. Furthermore, these private organisations would take no account of people's ability to pay. Under this new provision, therefore, the State could hire these private firms to collect tax income and overpayments such as those relating to social welfare.

In the aftermath of this pandemic and the accompanying recession, it is likely that banks and vulture funds will move swiftly to repossess homes. This will be brought about mainly due to Government restrictions to curb the pandemic, but the consequences will very likely be far-reaching. I certainly do not support any private company that can go to someone's home in the middle of the night, remove them and take possession of it. Most people do their best to pay off their mortgages. The people I fully support are those who make an effort and try their best to pay their debts. I accept that there is a small minority who do not - I do not support them - but I am speaking about the regular people who, due to Covid, have lost either their jobs or their ability to pay their debts. There must be more stringent efforts made to help regular people who, through no fault of their own, have lost the ability to pay.

Last July, one of the first steps taken by this Government was to make it easier for vulture funds to repossess family homes under the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act. Does that really sound like a Government on the side of people who are on the verge of having their homes taken from them? I do not support this Bill and will not support private firms having the power to do what Cromwell did in 1649. Let me remind everyone of what the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland boiled down to. Overall, it was the largest land grab in Ireland's history and in early European history. Before Cromwell, 70% Irish land was in Irish hands. With Cromwell in Ireland, this figure was reduced to 10%. Is history going to repeat itself?

My colleagues and I in the Rural Independent Group have submitted amendments to this Bill. These are reasonable and practical amendments aimed at protecting the public interest. Surely, our Government will not vote against these amendments. One of them is a strict prohibition on the wearing of balaclavas, and the use of intimidation and excessive force, which shall be deemed an offence under this legislation. Another amendment states, "the execution of a warrant shall only be authorised between 12 noon and 5pm on weekdays (excluding public holidays)". It also states: "An Garda Síochána shall be permitted to intervene by issuing a caution and/or arresting, where assault or battery (by anyone present) is exercised with any level of excessive force." As my colleagues, Deputies Mattie McGrath and Nolan, stated we put our money where our mouths are. We went to and sat in a meeting with KBC some time ago. KBC is now on the way out of our country after taking as much as it could from us and is throwing its hardworking employees and its customers to the wolves. We went to the meeting in question on foot of the carry-on at the time and the evictions, which the bank was promoting, as such. I am glad we did that. We sounded the death knell in respect of that type of behaviour.

We have seen the impact of housing crisis this week. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are mostly to blame for that crisis. They were quite happy to pat each other on the back in recent years but in the past week they have been stabbing each other in the back. It is scandalous to see the likes of it. It is like children squabbling in a schoolyard.

There are many issues. People find it difficult to get houses and obtain planning permission. There are Members of this House who support An Taisce. My constituency colleague, Deputy Cairns, came into the House earlier and indicated her support for it. An Taisce is getting €3 million in taxpayers' money to stop people in rural Ireland getting planning permission. Is that the kind of support it deserves? It does not deserve that support. The Government must answer questions as to why it is giving out that money and in respect of where it is going to. I call on the Government to do that. Tonight, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Deputies have the opportunity to do that. I ask every counsellor and paid-up member of those parties to back our motion on the 2040 plan and allow young people to get planning permission in their home areas. If they do not give us their support, then they should never turn around and state that we have done nothing on this issue, because we certainly have. We expect them to fully support our motion tonight, because if they do not then they will be the cause of putting in place legislation which will make sure that young people will not get planning permission in their rural communities because of the 2040 plan. I will not support the Bill unless serious consideration is given to our amendments. I would appreciate if the Minister would give them that consideration.

See this speech in context