Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If everyone who congratulates Senator Gilroy on publishing his book buys one, he might be in the top ten next week. I encourage people to do so.

On many occasions in the House, I have called on the Minister to recommence Garda recruitment. I congratulate the Minister for Justice and Equality in this regard, although I do not often do so. I am sure that having announced the recommencement of the training of recruits in Templemore, he is aware, as I am, that it will take two years for them to pass through the college and be on the beat. I ask for a debate on policing in the autumn, specifically on how we can utilise the Garda Reserve. Those who have already been trained in the Garda Reserve and who are on the streets should be fast-tracked through Templemore so they will not require a full two years' training. They do at present. We can be clever about this and save money in addition to ensuring the presence of gardaí on our streets much sooner than in two years' time. I welcome the announcement.

A number of Members mentioned the case of the psychiatrist writing to the bank on behalf of a client. Yesterday, the Government, through the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013, set aside the Dunne judgment, which protected householders from repossessions. I am not questioning Members' bona fides and I am sure they mean what they say. If they want to come into the House to express their concern over its having come to pass that psychiatrists must write to banks on behalf of their patients expressing concern that those patients could take their own lives because of debt and mortgage arrears, they should vote accordingly. What happened yesterday evening in the House when we actually had the opportunity to stop this Bill? The biggest stick the Government has to beat the banks with is being set aside. While I welcome the fact that the Minister broadly accepted Senator Barrett's amendment, as it is important, the purpose of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013 is to set aside the Dunne judgment. The judgment meant that, over the past two years, there was an extremely low number of repossessions. The Minister saw this as a problem, but I do not. Of the 142,000 mortgages in arrears, our banks have split 142. The Minister could have said he would not introduce the Bill until he saw the colour of the banks' money. He should say he will introduce it in a year if the banks split 14,000 mortgages. I guarantee that if the Minister returns to the House on 15 July next year, the repossession rate will have gone through the roof directly because Members of the Oireachtas have voted for the Bill. Therefore, I do not want to hear Members coming into the House and crying crocodile tears in this regard. We had an opportunity yesterday to stop the legislation but we did not avail of it.