Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I am pleased, if I could just speak for a moment. While I appreciate that the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality is considering this issue, can the heads of the Bill also be put before this House for a debate at this time, to feed into the joint committee's deliberations on the issue? While the Bill contains many welcome features, many of them were included in the Bills Fianna Fáil put forward and which were defeated. Those Bills are ready to go and could still be implemented.

As the Leader of the Opposition has pointed out, the proposed Bill will leave the banks in control. There is nothing in the draft Bill published today that the banks could not do themselves if they wished. What makes the Minister for Justice and Equality thank that when we pass the Bill the banks will adopt its processes as a way forward? We must have an independent authority, as proposed in our Bill. I implore the Labour Party and Fine Gael to go down that route. Otherwise banks will not engage in the way required to help families.