Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

People do not know where they stand. A person on a certain income can receive a proposal from one lending institution, but somebody else on the same income might be given a totally different option from another institution. If we do nothing else, we should recognise the importance of free and independent expert legal advice. There needs to be a level playing field in this regard. We do not have it at the moment. People are getting offers from lending institutions. We are setting targets for lending institutions.

Those proposals that are being made have to be proposals people can live with. I am meeting people every day who say they do not know if it is a good deal. They need to have the ability to go to a fully-formed independent body that can give them the expert legal advice that puts them on the same level playing field as the financial institution they are dealing with. While we, of course, have expert groups like MABS and so forth, I do not accept we have in place a fully-fledged expert resource for people who find themselves in these situations. I ask that this be considered.