Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I met representatives of the BPFI and I put that directly to them. In fairness they did not hesitate in saying that they would organise that structural engagement with its members which is to be welcomed. However, there is also a role for the State here. Why are these families in this situation? It is because the Government scheme does not provide 100% redress. It is because people are expected to put their hands in their pockets to find the €60,000 or €70,000 themselves. These families are paying a full mortgage with interest on rubble at this stage. They then need to find bridging finance because the Government has not come up with 100%.

There is a problem for the banks with the mortgage terms and conditions because people cannot demolish their home without the bank giving consent to it. For banks to give consent to it, they will need to be assured that the home can be rebuilt because they have a loan and there are issues with how they represent the collateral of that loan in their balance sheet. Up to 7,000 of these homes could be in this situation. This is not a small issue; this is a very big issue.

I will say this again. We have been raising the issue of the banks for a long time now. This is us trying to deal with the disaster that is being foisted upon these families by not having 100% redress - we have not given up the battle on that. The issue here is that nobody is doing anything about it. The banks have not done anything about it. The Central Bank has not done anything about it. Neither the Department of Finance nor the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has done anything about it. The houses are on the ground. Some of them are demolished. People are at their wits' end and developers are walking off. That is what is happening here. We need to get to grips with this very fast.

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