Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the people in the Gallery, particularly the members of Threshold national housing organisation, who have a particular interest in this Bill.

In my Second Stage speech I suggested that the provisions of this Bill which allow the Minister to delay its implementation should be exercised by him in view of a number of matters. I refer in particular to the revised mortgage arrears resolution process, or MARP, with which I have severe difficulty, as members of both Government and Opposition know, given the powers it gives to the financial institutions. The personal insolvency legislation and its allied service are only getting off the ground and there is a significant issue among members of the general public as to how they see that evolving. There is, therefore, a need for a period of six to 12 months in which a certain amount of washing out could take place in that regard. As to the MARP solutions that have been bought into by the Government along with the Central Bank, it is very important that members of the public see how these targets will affect them. I agree with my colleague on the Opposition side that there is an enormous level of uncertainty among the general public as to how this particular legislation will be interpreted.

As I said to the Minister on a previous occasion, I am also very conscious of the fact there is a pick-up in the housing market. There is a serious view, held among both commentators and the general public, that there is a malevolence within banking institutions. They are looking at borrowers who have equity in their homes and waiting for the market to rise so that they can seize houses whose mortgage situations they have been sitting on for the past three or four years and bring them to some kind of conclusion. I have serious reservations about the mortgage resolution process. The idea that in the absence of any independent veto the lender is the one that determines whether a mortgage is affordable for a borrower is unacceptable. The fact that a borrower can access the insolvency process by demonstrating that he or she has engaged with the MARP is something that could lead to severe abuse within the banking system.

The fact is that the people of Ireland do not trust our banks. We can try to gloss over this and walk away from it. As a member of a Government party, I admit this is something the Government must recognise. We have lost faith and confidence in our banking system. When I was 14 years of age my parents brought me into the National Bank premises in Terenure and I opened a bank account with Bank of Ireland, where I have banked ever since. There are many people in this country who have done exactly the same. They believed in and trusted in the banking system and had huge confidence that banks and their bank managers would advise them what was the best thing to do and whether they should do this or that. When somebody sold them a product, told them they could have a mortgage or that such and such was the right thing to do, they believed it. Unfortunately, as with Aladdin and his magic carpet, that has been completely removed. The people no longer trust the banking system in this country.

I know why this legislation is being introduced but I ask the Minister to hold off because I do not believe the people trust the banking system. Until they do, and until they trust us as a Government to do what is right for them, I do not believe the legislation should be introduced. I have been told there is one lending institution that has 4,600 orders for possession ready to rock and roll - I do not know how true that is. I fully understand it may not be the case, but that is the perception among the public. We have to understand that public perception is important, for example, in the housing and mortgage markets. Crucially, it is important for the perception of people in the country who are in enormous distress about what we as a Government are prepared to do.

Yesterday I was told by a person who was bidding for a property, albeit in south County Dublin, that the price quoted was €100,000 more than the property two doors up had sold for less than 12 months ago. We have to accept that the mortgage and housing markets have changed dramatically. Twelve, 24 or 36 months ago, lending institutions in this country would not engage with borrowers. Today I reviewed the file of a woman who is in a life-threatening situation after 96 doses of chemotherapy. Everybody in this House will have had similar experiences. This woman is dealing with a major lending institution and I reviewed her file today, not one, three or six months ago. It was not a pretty sight. She has had a number of letters from one financial institution which has failed entirely to engage with her on numerous occasions. I point out to the Minister that as a qualified solicitor I am capable of reading a file. I know when something is dressed up for public consumption. The way that lending institution has behaved is an utter disgrace. That is the best way I can describe it.

I am very well aware of the can't-pay-won't-pay scenario and the fact that we are paying for those people who walk off into the sunset, are having foreign holidays, are living here and there and will not pay their debts. However, in my experience the vast majority of people in this country do their absolute best. Irish people value the family home.

Going back to the land wars and all the way through Irish history, the home is so important to Irish people. John B. Keane wrote The Fieldand it is a bit of a cliché but the truth is that it matters to Irish people. They do not default easily.

I will not support the Fianna Fáil amendment, although that does not mean I do not have sympathy with it, as I do. The Minister has the option of delaying the implementation of this legislation and I want to see how the personal insolvency legislation is playing out. I want the Irish people to have confidence in the matter. I have praised the Minister on many occasions for the introduction of the legislation, which is groundbreaking. To be fair to our colleagues on the other side, they did not propose an equivalent.