Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I, along with other Members, ask for a debate on the personal insolvency Bill next week. It seems ridiculous in the extreme that we must continue to wait. We have already waited for many years, and I include the years when I was on the Government side of the House when proposals were also made. Many proposals and Bills have been made since I have been on this, the Opposition side of the House. It is almost 11 months to the day since the Family Home Bill was debated in this Chamber. If my constituency colleagues had voted for it then, it would been enacted into law and something would have been done to alleviate the plight of people in mortgage arrears.

Senator Ó Domhnaill has pointed out, rightly, that the banks were the only people to have been consulted on the issue, which makes no sense. We might ask them for a submission, but to invite them in here and give them a private briefing before the rest of us is ridiculous.