Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after ‘‘That’’ and substitute the following:‘‘Seanad Éireann:

- acknowledges that this Government inherited a severe mortgage arrears crisis from the previous Government and notes the responsibility of the previous Government for the creation of that crisis and its abject failure to properly address it;
- recognises that the Government has already taken a number of significant steps to address the mortgage arrears problem and also to stabilise the banking and wider economic situation;
- acknowledges, in particular, that shortly after taking office the present Government established the interdepartmental mortgage arrears working group and that it is now implementing the key recommendations of that report;
- notes the speedy publication by the Government of comprehensive legislation to reform our insolvency laws and the enactment of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012, which provides for non-judicial debt resolution mechanisms including a personal insolvency arrangement which will facilitate the retention of their family home by individuals who are insolvent and enable them to resolve debt issues by agreement with creditors with the assistance of a personal insolvency practitioner;
- recognises that Central Bank interaction with mortgage lenders is key to addressing mortgage arrears and that the Central Bank is now further intensifying its engagement with the main mortgage lenders to ensure that lenders offer sustainable solutions to their customers in arrears;
- supports the Central Bank in this work in particular in setting specific targets for action and in monitoring and auditing the achievement of those targets;
- also notes the Central Bank’s review of the code of conduct on mortgage arrears to strengthen protections for customers and also allow to provide for effective, timely and sustainable resolution of individual arrears situations;
- accepts that, for a functioning mortgage market, it is necessary to protect and vindicate in a fair manner the legitimate rights of both debtors and creditors;
- while accepting that the option of repossession has to be one of the options to deal with mortgage default and distress, also notes the view of Government that this should only be an option of last resort and that there are a range of other resolution options available that can be deployed to deal with mortgage distress in the best interests of both the borrower and lender;
- encourages the Government and other authorities to continue with the work to bring the Insolvency Service of Ireland and the debt resolution processes provided for in the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 into operation as soon as possible;
- notes that the Insolvency Service of Ireland will shortly publish guidelines on reasonable living expenses for debtors who propose to enter into debt resolution mechanisms; and
- condemns the failure of the previous Government to publish or enact any legislation to reform bankruptcy and insolvency law and its failure to create any statutory debt resolution mechanisms or structures to facilitate individuals in financial difficulty to resolve such difficulties by agreement with creditors and to facilitate the restructuring of mortgage debt.’’.

This is a healthy debate and I thank colleagues on the other side of the House for raising this issue, because their job in opposition is to put the Government under pressure and to ensure issues are highlighted and brought to the attention of the House and the nation. Discounting the political rhetoric, both contributions put forward some positive suggestions. This is an important amendment that will add flavour and texture to the motion.