Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has stated he accepts there are people who are under extreme pressure because of the five interest rates increases by the ECB. We all know of particular individuals who are under significant pressure. We know people on tracker mortgages who may have an added monthly bill of €200. This could be €200 on top of large increases in fuel costs and electricity costs. Other people have spoken about all of the services people may need for their children. They may need disability services they must pay for themselves because State services are not in place. This is the world in which we are operating. The Minister spoke about the fact the Central Bank is on the ball with regard to the necessity of regulation and protections. This is on the basis that we cannot just rely on vendors. This is fair to say. We are speaking about a considerable number of people.

We may disagree on what actions we take and what proposals we make and accept, but the Government did make a determination that the cost-of-living crisis was hurting people and that there would be no cliff edge. The Minister is not in support of our motion today. This is wrong and it is a mistake. Beyond that, I would like to think there will be a further look at a suite of issues with which people will need help. We are speaking about a timely measure. This means it has to happen fairly quickly. We are speaking about something temporary. We are also talking about targeted mortgage interest relief. It is a form of relief that was provided in the State previously and has been supported. We see the issues we are dealing with.

We know the numbers we are talking about. There are 186,000 tracker mortgages, 129,000 standard variable rate accounts and 137,000 mortgage accounts with non-banks and vulture funds. We all have had these people coming into our offices. We all know the particular issues they have. They have a greater level of difficulty at present. Now is the time we can provide them with some chance to get through this. This is what the supports we have had in recent years have been about. They have been to facilitate people so we do not have a recessionary disaster.

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