Dáil debates

Thursday, 1 July 2021

Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Second Stage

 

3:10 pm

Photo of Martin KennyMartin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I too thank the Ceann Comhairle for his forbearance on the problem that has arisen today.

There are a couple of issues I wish to raise with the Minister. I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on the phenomenon we have seen in the past 18 months whereby the Government has become the last resort, if one likes, in terms of providing people's income. It is quite a strange scenario. Governments all over the world, many of which are very right wing, are actually doing things that are very left wing as a result of the pandemic. The Government has become the provider of income of last resort for many people and the supporter of business in many cases. All of that is welcome and has been good and fruitful and, in many cases, has got people through, but there are several situations in which problems have arisen. It would be useful if the Minister could address them.

The first relates to the banks. Several people in my constituency have been approved for home loans. A man contacted me recently on this issue. He and his wife both work. She works in the childcare sector and, as such, had to be on the wage supplement, yet, now that they have been approved for a loan and have located a house in north Leitrim which is within their reach and they can buy, they have been refused permission by one of the main banks, a bank which the State has funded and propped up, to draw down the loan. That is a big issue for many families who are now in a position where they cannot draw down the loan for which they have been approved because the State, in fairness, came to the rescue of business and made sure those people maintained their income throughout the pandemic. That is an issue with which the Minister needs to try to get to grips. He needs to meet the banks and sort this out. The banks always tell us there is no issue but the truth is that when individuals on the ground look into it, they find there is a serious issue.

The second issue I ask the Minister to address, perhaps he will come back to me on this, is that many people who received the wage supplement in the past 12 to 18 months have now discovered they will have a tax bill at the end of it because the money they received was gross income rather than net income. Tax had not been deducted from it. They were unaware of that at the time and, naturally enough, they spent the money because in most cases it was well down on their normal weekly income. They now find they will have to try to meet this tax bill some time at the end of the year. It would be useful for the Minister to make clear that there will be an accommodation with Revenue whereby people will be allowed to pay that money over time, perhaps over a couple of years, rather than having to pay it in a lump sum. That would be very useful and take a lot of pressure off many people.

Finally, there is the issue relating to banks, housing, vulture funds and all of that. This is not just a phenomenon that exists in inner city Dublin. It is in every part of the country. The pressure on people to get a roof over their heads and buy a home while competing with these funds is absolutely scandalous. What the Government has done to date will not work. There needs to be a recognition of that and the Government needs to do something concrete that will actually work and make sure these vulture funds are pushed out once and for all.

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