John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I, too, pay tribute to the tidy towns committee in Castlecoote on the great work it has done. It is a beautiful village. The committee has put Castlecoote and Roscommon on the map. Roscommon has always been the forgotten county when it comes to tourism, but many villages such as Keadue, Ballintober and Castlecoote have a great deal to offer tourists. Indeed, Senator Leyden is preparing to open a hostelry in Castlecoote to further entice people to the village. However, the Senator forgot to mention that along with his daughter on the tidy towns committee, Councillors Dominick Connolly and Martin Connaughton have been very active in the village as well. He might not like to admit that, but fair play to all concerned.

The issue I wish to raise, like Senator MacSharry, is the code of conduct for the banks. I raised this issue a week ago as I feel very strongly about it. The point I made a week ago was that when we were voting on the Personal Insolvency Bill, if we had been privy to what was happening in Anglo Irish Bank and other banks, as we have heard from the tapes, we would not have given the banks a veto. Now that they have the veto, the code of conduct will give them all the power they need to repossess homes. If a personal insolvency practitioner works out a plan with somebody who has a distressed mortgage and the person sticks to that plan, the recommendations the practitioner makes should be enough for the banks to agree to deal with the person. However, having looked at the newspapers today and hearing what Senator MacSharry has said, it appears that if somebody cannot-----