Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The statements on alcohol consumption are being taken by the Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for primary care, Deputy Alex White. Will the Leader confirm that the powers in this regard have been devolved from the Minister for Health to the Minister of State in advance of him coming into the House?

On the Order of Business yesterday and on numerous occasions in the past year, with other colleagues on both sides of the House, I raised issues in the banking sector, specifically mortgage arrears. The matter was put as stark as it could be yesterday at the Irish Bankers Federation conference when Ms Fiona Muldoon, head of banking supervision in the Central Bank, lambasted the banks for their inaction on it. According to her, there are 167,000 mortgages, to a value of ¤35 billion, in arrears. She states a culture of leadership is missing in Irish banks. We know this, as does the Leader. It is as plain as the nose on his face. The mortgage arrears figures are 50% worse than they were this time last year and they are getting progressively worse every day. When the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Brian Hayes, were here earlier this term, they both confirmed that by 30 September the Central Bank would be in receipt of mortgage solutions from the mortgage lenders to the problem of distressed mortgages. I am not talking about the Personal Insolvency Bill which is the nuclear button for people in moving towards bankruptcy; rather, I am talking about those who are struggling.

The Minister for Finance and the Minister of State both said the banks should submit their solutions for mortgage holders not yet in severe mortgage difficulty but who will be in the future to the Central Bank by 30 September. Will the Leader confirm that the deadline was met and that the Government is examining the proposed solutions for distressed mortgage holders? It is very important that we know the stage the process has reached to provide some light at the end of the tunnel for mortgage holders. Was the deadline of 30 September missed?

Yesterday a number of Senators on both sides of the House asked for a debate on the issue of mortgage arrears. It behoves us to have such a debate very quickly. I am not going to propose an amendment to the Order of Business, but I ask the Leader to ensure that in the next two weeks there will be a specific debate on the problem and solutions to it. This must happen because if the head of banking supervision in the Central Bank is saying to the Irish Banking Federation what other colleagues and I have been saying for over one year now, there is no reason we cannot allow time in the House to have a proper discussion on how we can help thousands of Irish people. The Leader must arrange a specific debate on this matter in the next two weeks, not by way of another Bill or an overall discussion on finance issues. It must be specifically about mortgage arrears and solutions. Two weeks ago many Senators were outraged at the increase of 0.5% in the variable mortgage interest rate charged to AIB customers, but last week we had confirmation from the Taoiseach that he would do nothing about it. He said the primary goal of the Government was to make AIB viable again. There are thousands of mortgage holders who have found they are not viable and cannot continue to repay mortgages at inflated rates. I, therefore, ask the Leader to arrange in the next two weeks a specific debate on the issue of mortgage arrears and solutions to the problem.