Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I do not propose to accept the amendment because section 94(1) provides that a mortgagee shall not take possession of the mortgaged property without a court order, unless the consent of the mortgagor has been given. The amendment now seeks to impose a condition. Effectively, the consent would have to be given within the preceding year. This would mean the mortgagee — the building society — would be required to update each mortgagor's consent every year or, failing that, to go to court in all cases that would arise. This would create either additional administrative costs for mortgagees or additional court-related costs. This would not be in the public interest.

I can see the Senator's point. She is suggesting that early in the life of a mortgage, general consent seems to recede into the background of everyone's memory as time passes. However, she is really suggesting that non-court based possession would become very difficult, if not impossible in most cases. The law should be left as it is.