Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support the comments of my colleague Senator Paul Coghlan on the independence of the Central Bank and the apparent message that the interests of the lenders are paramount and will not in any way be subservient to the interests of the borrowers. On a number of occasions I have called for a debate at which the Minister for Finance would be present in order to discuss the banking system. I do not think that letters to say the code of conduct on mortgage arrears is none of his business are an adequate and sufficient response. A debate on banking is critical in the context of where we want to go in September. A resolution of the mortgage crisis is one of the most pressing issues, as discussed over the past months, which will not go away over the summer and will be waiting for us in September. The latest IBF figures on mortgage lending showed that lending is down by 20%, from 2,630 mortgages in the first quarter of last year to 2,068 mortgages in the first quarter of this year. I am sick of seeing the advertisements everywhere from the various pillar banks stating that they are open for business and please come in because they are dying to lend money. This statement is misleading and deceptive. Unless we get the mortgage market operational again, there will be major difficulties.

I support the comments of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland which suggests the Government should introduce a mortgage credit review body to ensure fairness and transparency in the mortgage market. It is a very interesting call, which I support.