Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make a brief reference to a recent European Central Bank report which stated that between 2009 and 2013 Irish people lost more of their personal wealth than any other eurozone country. Many of those who lost their personal wealth, lost the bulk of their savings and the values of their pensions.

It has come to my attention recently that an approach was made, as I understand it, to the Minister for Finance by a particular company which acquired assets at the bottom of the market in this country. These are assets that Irish people have bought and paid for and which they and their children will be paying for over the next number of decades. It is unacceptable that companies that have acquired assets at below market rates are influencing Government policy when it comes to housing. At the end of the day, what is important are the people of Ireland, the roofs over their heads and the homes in which they live.

I ask the Leader to arrange for a broader debate on the whole issue of Irish housing, who has acquired it, what has happened with NAMA, what has happened with all the vulture funds that have acquired Irish assets cheaply and, in my opinion, below market values, because, as I said, it is the Irish people who will pay for this for the next number of decades. This Parliament and other former Governments looking across the way here will have to answer to the Irish people on how we managed the value of Irish assets during the decades of the financial crisis.

One other debate I seek relates to the under 26s who, as I said on the night of the budget, did not receive, as other groups did, some of the restoration of their rights, particularly when it comes to payments. I call for a broader discussion on the issue of youth policy in relation to payments to young people, the system of support for third level education grants and the wider issues that affect young people in society.