Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will not be opposing the Order of Business today. I welcome the Bill to be debated this evening in Private Member's time but it is a shame that we could not have accepted the Bill proposed by Senator Averil Power which dealt with the same area. It is regrettable that when a very good Bill is put forward by the Opposition, the set piece tends to be that the Government declares it has a Bill of its own and will bring it forward because it does not want the Opposition scoring any goals on its watch. No doubt Senator Bacik will acknowledge this evening the efforts of Fianna Fáil and of Senator Power in particular in bringing forward that Bill almost a year ago because I am sure it helped to inform the Bill from the Labour Party Senators.

Today we will have an announcement from the Government, to which we are all looking forward in the hope that it will give some respite to the many struggling families throughout the country.

However, we have serious concerns about the banks controlling the process. As is envisaged under the Personal Insolvency Act, they have absolute control with a veto and are still in the driver's seat. Media reports have been building up over the past three days - I am sure it has something to do with the Meath East by-election where issues of mortgage arrears and negative equity will not be lost on many of those voting in a few weeks' time. However, I very much hope the Government will inject some kind of control into this scenario because the banks have not stood up to their end of the bargain so far. They have got the capital to assist them with their losses and have had all the assistance of the taxpayer. However, we have not had real measures to assist people on the ground. We very much hope that will happen today. In the 18 months since the publication of the Keane report which promoted split mortgages as the panacea to many of the ills brought on by the mortgage crisis, only 50 have been implemented, which is scandalous.

In 2011 we published a Bill proposing a debt-management office where the people would be represented through an independent arbitrator. We believe something like that will be required to force the banks to do what is necessary to look after the people who have looked after them so well.

I seek a debate on the dividend payable to the Government by State agencies. In the past week ESB announced results with ¤200 million in profits and ¤78 million of a dividend is payable to the State. That ¤78 million should be ring-fenced and distributed through some kind of coupon method to the struggling families who cannot afford to buy home-heating oil or pay their gas or electricity bills at this most difficult time. Middle-class families - not those one would automatically assume to be in the poverty trap - are struggling and avoiding putting on the heat in their homes because they cannot afford to do so. Surely there is some way to redistribute that ¤78 million dividend to ease the pain of struggling families.