Michael McCarthy (Labour)

Permanent TSB has raised its interest rate by 0.5% and it is certain other lenders will follow in the coming days, weeks and months. The European Central Bank is meeting as we discuss the issue in the House. By lunchtime it is expected to report that it will permit the current ECB rate of 1% to remain unchanged.

Given the culture of home ownership in this country and that the ESRI has stated there are 196,000 homes in negative equity, and even though banks did not stress-test loans properly but lent money willy-nilly, none the less it seems they are now returning to a system of landlordism and evictions that would do justice to what happened in this country in the 19th century. On this occasion, however, the people who are evicting families are donning the Irish jersey. It is outrageous that in a country which has bailed out and recapitalised the banks to the tune of many billions of taxpayers' money, the very people who propped up and bailed out these banks are now being targeted because the banks are taking full advantage of the fact that Government policy is behind them. With all due respect, they are now screwing thousands of families to the wall by increasing their interest rates. There is no accountability and no transparency. I have made that point consistently in the House.

At least when we were dealing with NAMA we had an opportunity to oblige mortgage lenders by law to pass on reductions in interest rates. The environment of the time promoted that type of activity but now the tables have turned. The banks have been bailed out and recapitalised and are taking full advantage. This is outrageous. There are thousands of families in this country who are going through the emotional turmoil of trying to meet monthly household bills. An increase of 0.5% adds about €60 to a mortgage of €200,000, a sum that is beyond the means of many ordinary decent people. Where does the Government stand on this? The Green Party did a solo run with regard to setting up an expert committee to bail out people. One does not need an expert group because anybody can see that people are in grave difficulty trying to meet mortgage repayments. Any proposal that may come from the Government is to be welcomed. However, it must meet the needs of the mortgage holder, not those of the mortgage lender.

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Mary Hanafin, has written to 100 women aged in their 70s and 80s who are spouses of farmers. These are women who worked in the family farm for generations, reared families and carried out tasks on farms. They were secretaries and auditors and worked every bit as hard as the traditional man of the house while rearing a family at the same time. They never got any form of compensation from the State. In recent times the Minister wrote to these women and told them they might be entitled to a pension. They were granted the pension but now the Minister has written looking for that money to be repaid because the women did not have a year's continuous PRSI payment before the age of 66. We have a Minister for Social and Family Affairs who gave money to people in their 70s and 80s and is now taking it back. Will the Leader ask the Minister to come to the House and make a statement on this matter? It is most insulting to generations of people in this country who worked on the family farm and it is disrespectful to the women in question that the Government is now attempting to bum money from them.