Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second my leader's proposed amendment and, in so doing, throw into the mix that when the Minister for Finance comes to the House he might explain why there is a resistance, allegedly, within his Department and among some Fine Gael Ministers in the Government to the Labour Party proposal, as enunciated by Deputy Willie Penrose, to reduce the bankruptcy period from three years to one year. This was alluded to by my colleague Senator Wilson yesterday. I too reiterate what he said in praising Deputy Penrose, who is a practising barrister as well as being an efficient Deputy in Longford-Westmeath. Deputy Penrose will be aware, as most of us are, of the way in which the banks are dragging their feet.

There is not a day goes by that we do not hear of the banks refusing to engage with people who have distressed mortgages. I cannot understand, as Deputy Penrose pointed out, why the Taoiseach is reported in the media as saying that he would be afraid that there would be a run on repossessions given that the rate of repossessions in the North of Ireland, where there is a one year bankruptcy period, is very low. With respect, I cannot understand the logic of that. I would have thought that if the banks were aware that there was a chance they would get nothing at all they would be more inclined to negotiate with distressed mortgage holders in the hope of getting some money back, rather than allowing them to go into bankruptcy.

I am not for one moment suggesting that bankruptcy is the panacea. However, at the time the then Minister, Deputy Shatter, brought the legislation before this House, I, along with others, queried why they were not introducing a similar bankruptcy environment to that of the UK and the North of Ireland. It does not make sense, particularly given we are bordering a jurisdiction with a one year bankruptcy period. I wondered why we could not introduce a similar one here. His reply was that we make laws for this country and that we are not worried about other countries. That seemed to me to be like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand and it is now coming home to roost.

I am sure that it is of particular concern to the Fine Gael Party that the Labour Party has referred to this as a red line issue. I hope the Minister for Finance will spell out what exactly are the objections. It seems to me to be a reasonable, sensible and logical proposal, given the nearby jurisdiction and the statistics that indicate that there has not been wholesale repossessions as a result of a one year bankruptcy period. I am sure that the people in the North of Ireland are no different in terms of the difficulties they are having in looking after mortgage repayments to those in this jurisdiction. From that point of view, I cannot understand the logic of it.