Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge Deputy Mattie McGrath for allowing me his time on this very important matter. When taking about corporate enforcement, something that strikes me, as it must strike all Deputies in the House as they do their clinics, go around meeting people and dealing with people who have had roughshod treatment from the banking and lending institutions, is that there is a lot of enforcement on those people. The Minister of State ably represents his constituents and is 100% on the side of young couples whose mortgages have been taken over, although I will not mention the names of these crowds that come along. I have nothing against people who want to go out in business and make a profit - more good luck to them - but when people want to make a profit and to profiteer on the misery of others, that is where we have a big problem. When people enforce their will on, say, a young couple who are paying for their mortgage and are paying their debts, that couple might ask themselves a question.

Where is corporate enforcement when it comes to helping us? Where is the law of the land when it comes to helping what I would call the "smaller" people? We had bailouts for the banks and big millionaires who owed millions of euro, and we heard of debt being reduced again and again. Where was the bailout for ordinary people who owed an ordinary amount of money and now find themselves being evicted from their homes?

Banking institutions in general are our banks. AIB and Bank of Ireland are our banks. The last remaining credible lending institution, which is a good and credible group of people, that maintained its reputation through all the crises, is the post office. I should also include the credit unions, which are not-for-profit organisations. All they want to do is take care of their customers, which they do in an excellent way. I acknowledge that many of the cataract patients I send up to the North avail of credit union loans to help pay for their operations. I thank the Irish League of Credit Unions for the great work the credit unions do, working in conjunction with these people and serving them by providing money at a nominal fee so they can have their operations done, for which they are reimbursed afterwards by the HSE. That is terribly important.

When we are talking about white-collar crime and the big shenanigans that go on, where is the enforcement and help for the smaller people? These are the boys and girls with mortgages, young children and families as well as small business owners who are doing important work creating one or two jobs for themselves, neighbours or friends. They may have run into a little bit of financial bother. Every organisation and damnation from hell can come down upon them if they run into little bit of trouble. There is no assistance from them.

What we and every other Deputy in the House, from all parties and none, want is fair play for everybody, particularly the people who are really struggling. They are the backbone of Ireland who send us in here to speak up for them. We respect big business. There has to be big business and we want more of it but we also want fairness and equity for the people who are struggling and who we deal with every day of the week. As late as last night, I had a good few meetings with people. To be honest, it gets inside your head when a young couple tells you they have be out of their house in a month's time and the nearest place they can find in their locality costs €1,500 or €2,000 to rent per month. Where in the name of God are people supposed to get that type of money? They are being told to get out of their house. I mean no disrespect to our local authorities. They cannot pull houses out of a hat. What are we supposed to do for these people? Where is the enforcement by agencies of the State to help them? That is the point I want to make.

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