Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator Thomas Byrne's amendment.

I concur with Senator Cáit Keane's request that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, come before the House in order that we might discuss events taking place in Geneva, yesterday and today, and associated matters, including the organisation of some NGOs. The Minister could also inform the House as to why the Irish representative on the UN Commission on Human Rights voted against a pro-family motion put before it in the past week. We have a constitutional position on this matter and it is surprising that Ireland's representative joined a minority of representatives of other countries in voting in an anti-family fashion at the relevant meeting. I would welcome a response from the Minister on this matter.

I concur with Senator Aideen Hayden's comments on the need for a review of insolvency legislation. I do not believe she or anyone else in the House should be surprised at the relative ineffectiveness of the legislation, particularly in view of the fact that not only did it give the banks all the aces, it also gave them the entire pack of cards. That was an issue in the debate when the legislation was debated in the House. There is absolutely no consideration for borrowers who find themselves in difficult circumstances. There was never going to be engagement on the part of the banks. The legislation should be reviewed and, I hope, amended. In that context, will the Leader arrange for the Minister for Finance to come before the House to discuss the matter and also the current position in the property market, particularly in the capital city? There are observers who have analysed the position and reached the conclusion that in the past year the release of properties onto the market has been very strictly controlled by both the banks and NAMA.

The consequence, of course, is that now prices have increased, properties are being released at these higher prices. There is a view that there could be manipulation of the market going on. There is certainly a view that part of the objective in doing this, particularly on the side of the banks, is that it will lead to a situation where these higher prices will improve their loan books in the run-up to the stress tests. If they are at that, and I do not know if they are, we certainly need to shed a light on it because it is not in the interest of the recovery of a proper effective property market.