Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I note the great news coming from Northern Ireland and Coventry in Britain about the first Covid vaccines. It is almost surreal to think that we have reached the point where the vaccine is being rolled out.

I note the Government's amendment to the Brexit Bill, which will effectively undo the Labour Party amendment which was not opposed by Government Senators last week. We are deeply uneasy over the manner in which the Government is conducting its business today with the guillotining of the Bill.

I wish to raise an issue relating to the banks. Thousands of mortgage holders are facing into a very uncertain future. Thousands of people have lost their jobs for good and are now unable to pay their mortgages. They feature among the 6.1% of mortgage holders who are in arrears. Thousands more do not know if they will have their jobs in the new year leaving them struggling to pay their mortgages and having to go to their banks. People in the sectors that closed first and will be the last to reopen face particular mortgage difficulties.

In the early days of the pandemic the Central Bank moved swiftly to introduce guidelines for a payment break for mortgages, which was very welcome. However, in September the European Banking Authority issued guidelines that the payment break was no longer needed. The Irish banks have shielded under this recommendation. The European Banking Authority is now considering payment breaks again, but the Irish banks are refusing to engage with this.

We need a debate in this House with the Minister for Finance about how we deal with mortgage difficulties. The code of conduct on mortgage arrears is seven years old and arguably out of date.We need to have a debate in this House with regard to mortgages and banking. There is a wider issue in respect of banking in this country. We have two banks in which the State is the majority shareholder and it is now proposed that €20 billion of Ulster Bank loans will be sold at some stage in the coming months or year, possibly to Cerberus. There is real concern about the sale of these Irish loans to an American vulture fund. These loans account for approximately 20% of all SME lending in this country and more than 14% of mortgages. The impact of the sale of this loan book on businesses and mortgage holders could potentially be enormous. We need to have a debate in this House about the wider banking landscaping and the competitiveness of the market for banks. It is not just about borrowers; it is also about the workers. AIB is about to cut more than 1,300 jobs. There are very serious issues in the banking sector.

Last Tuesday, I raised the issue of the contract cleaning joint labour committee. The employment regulation order was due to be signed on 1 December but, a week later, we have heard nothing from the Department. While 40 cent per hour might not mean much to the officials in the Department, to the Minister or to those of us in this House, it means a lot to contract cleaners. It is not acceptable to leave them waiting for a week when employers and trade unions have already agreed to this pay deal. I urge the Minister to sign the order and press on.