Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am eager to start this Dáil term by speaking to Sinn Féin's urgent and necessary motion on mortgage interest relief, and I thank my colleague, Deputy Doherty, for bringing it forward. We find ourselves at a critical juncture, where the cost-of-living crisis has reached new heights, leaving families struggling in a web of escalating costs. Families are burdened with soaring mortgage costs, exacerbated by ten ECB interest rate rises in 14 months. These hikes are costing people a fortune.

According to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, mortgage interest costs have surged by 51.3% in the past year alone. Let us not forget those who have been doubly victimised, with their mortgages sold to vulture funds, leaving them at the mercy of exorbitant interest rates, some as high as 10%. Sinn Féin has been advocating for months for a time-limited mortgage interest relief. The time for action is now. What course has this Government charted? It has charted a course of inaction, reducing the banking levy and thereby enriching financial institutions whose operating profits have soared by an astonishing 97% year on year. At my constituency office in County Kildare the stories pour in, with tales of despair, of families struggling under the yolk of rising mortgage and living costs and, in some cases, of those who may soon be homeless. The Government's lack of action is not merely disappointing; it is cruel.

Sinn Féin's motion lays out a clear roadmap for immediate and targeted intervention. Sinn Féin would introduce mortgage interest relief tailored to assist struggling households. It would increase the bank levy and apply proceeds directly to the provision of mortgage interest relief. It would also develop a clear plan to help bring mortgages already in the hands of vulture funds back into the mainstream mortgage market. This Government has had more than ample opportunities to offer a lifeline to families ensnared in the cost-of-living quagmire.

The era for token gestures and half measures is long past. I urge the Minister and the Government to adopt the Sinn Féin mortgage interest relief plan and provide immediate relief to homeowners and their families. I will go even further and implore the House to endorse this motion. Fluffy and all as the Minister's speech was, in describing how he got everything sorted and wonderful, he has not given me any confidence. He mentioned Pepper and I am delighted to hear that it is going to engage. I must contact it because it owns my house.

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