Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I met a woman recently when I was canvassing in Huntstown, which is in my constituency. To say that she was extremely worried about the never-ending increases in her mortgage interest rate and was becoming increasingly concerned that there will most likely be more increases in interest rates in the coming months is an understatement.

As was stated, the Central Bank of Ireland has increased its key lending interest rates an incredible six times. In real-life terms, this means 250,000 people on tracker mortgages have been on the sharp end of those increases in interest rates. The most vulnerable among those people have been caught up in this nightmare situation are those who have loans held by the vulture funds and non-banking groups. It is estimated that in the region of 43,000 people, which is a phenomenal number, have no power or no belief that those who own their loans care about them. It is all about maximising profit. For many people, it is the difference between paying the mortgage, paying for food and paying a massive gas or electricity bill. The luxuries have been long stripped out of their budget.

There is all sorts of talk about the budget surplus. I heard the Minister on the radio talking about billions of euro washing around in the coffers. I heard him speak about rainy days and how we need to put money away for the future. I agree with him; we need to do all of that. We also need to ensure that people are looked after in the here and now, however, and that we support as many people through this very difficult time as we possibly can. As was mentioned, Sinn Féin is proposing a temporary and targeted mortgage interest relief for a period of eight months that will give upwards of €1,500 benefit to a household. We appeal to the Minister at this late stage, despite his amendment to the Sinn Féin motion, to reconsider his position on the issue of supports to those who are faced with massive increases in their mortgages.

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