Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend the motion and the party to my left on putting it forward.

There have been a total of ten mortgage interest rate hikes in too short a time for anybody to absorb and cope with. The people affected by these hikes, in particular, those who have mortgages with vulture funds who number in the thousands of homeowners, are no doubt sitting in their own despair today. They are at their kitchen table unsure of how they will get through the next few months. Families, in particular, who have struggled with back-to-school costs, now have winter and Christmas looming over their shoulders and they need to know that there will be hope, that support is coming and exactly what that support looks like. I hope that sentiment can be appreciated by the Government as I understand it will not support the motion.

I support the motion. It is such a shame that the Government made the decision to wind down mortgage interest relief in the first place in 2021. That was a big mistake.

It is not fair on the more than 500,000 households affected by today's hike that they have to wait for the Minister to ride in here on his white horse and make the announcement on budget day that we all know is coming. People are suffering and action is required. That is why I support the motion and encourage the Government not to fight it. The only difference between doing it today and in three weeks is that the Minister is afraid that he may not get the credit for that decision. It needs to be targeted and it needs to help those who need it most and those who are most at risk.

I call on all sides of the House to support the motion and to support the people who put us here, who are struggling immensely now and for whom three weeks will seem like forever.

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