Did you deliberately mislead the public?

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach and I welcome the opportunity to say a cúpla focal ar an tuarascáil seo. Sa chéad dul síos tá sé ráite sa tuarascáil seo go gcaithfí céim úr a ghlacadh ó thaobh cúrsaí tithíochta mar tá a fhios againn ón méid atá ag tarlú agus an méid a thit amach leis an Rialtas go bhfuil teip iomlán ar an Rialtas ó thaobh cúrsaí tithíochta de. Cífimid praghsanna ag dul in airde agus le feiceáil arís inniu. Tá praghsanna suas 9% agus cífimid líon gan dídean níos mó anois ná mar a b…

Today AIB announced a staggering profit of €2.8 billion. That comes a week after Bank of Ireland boasted €1.9 billion in profits. This is not the result of more productivity or innovation. It is the result of banks squeezing homeowners and short-changing savers. Financial institutions on the Government’s watch have lumped workers and families with extortionate interest rates in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Ireland, if the Taoiseach does not know, has among the highest interest rates in the European Union.…

So reduce for builders and screw the homeowners? Is that what it is?

No, I am asking about mortgages. The Taoiseach is talking about builders.

Mar dhuine ón Ghaeltacht agus mar dhuine a chónaíonn sa Ghaeltacht, is mian liom Seachtain na Gaeilge a úsáid mar dheis chun cuid de na hábhair atá ag cur imní ar mo phobal maidir le tithíocht a chur os comhair na Dála agus a léiriú. Ar feadh na mblianta, diúltaíodh cead pleanála do go leor daoine is muintir na Gaeltachta, cé go raibh easpa tithíochta le ligin ar cíos sa cheantar seo. Mar is eol dúinn, tá na tithe atá ar fáil ar cíos róchostasach. Tá na cinn atá le ceannach róchostasach fosta. I nDún na nGall, tá s…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an leasú seo a chur i láthair na Dála inniu. Is leasú tábhachtach é seo atá tugtha isteach ag an Aire Stáit. Tá an leasú mar a gcéanna leis an leasú atá agam féin ar son Shinn Féin agus leis an leasú atá ag an Teachta Nash ar son Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre. Tá an trí leasú ag iarraidh an rud céanna a dhéanamh agus a bhaint amach.

That is fine.

I merely made the point that I appreciate the amendment the Minister of State has brought before the House and I referred to the amendment I have tabled on behalf of Sinn Féin. Without speaking for Deputy Nash, who will speak for himself, his is a similar amendment. All three amendments are trying to achieve the same thing. There was a serious problem with the original legislation which prevented legitimate claims being heard by the FSPO regarding conduct that occurred before the authorisation of a credit servicing…

I thank the Minister of State. I do not want to fall out with him but, for the record, there were attempts to move this on Committee Stage. He is absolutely right that when I raised this with the then Minister, Michael McGrath, he said he would investigate it, but this legislation was going to go ahead. We stalled it, therefore, because this is the best vehicle to deal with it. That does not matter but I am highlighting it for the record. I welcome the Minister of State's clarification that those involved in credit…

I am not going to move amendment No. 2 because we have just passed amendment No. 1, which does exactly what we are looking for. Amendment No. 4 is also in my name, and while I am not going to move it either, I ask the Minister of State to ensure the legislation does what that amendment proposes. It calls on the Minister to bring forward a report on the extension of the jurisdiction of the FSPO to cover all mortgage holders. This relates to the conversation we have just had regarding whether it covers pre-authorisat…

I thank the Minister of State. Really, what I am looking for here is an early warning system. I am familiar with the 12-month review and so on but I am thinking of people for whom, while they may have made a complaint that has not been heard, it may be a case of a vulture fund absolutely robbing them. It may be the case the vulture fund has taken their home wrongly from them. It may be that they were overcharged. We do not know what the cases are, and the cases have not been able to be heard. We are fixing that now…

This section, which deals with the original legislation, addresses the funding of the FSPO. As we know, it is funded through two sources, namely, a levy and Exchequer funding. The former is an industry levy imposed on financial service providers annually in respect of FSPO activities for the investigation of complaints and the second source is funding provided by the Exchequer through the Department of Finance Vote. The section amends the Act, with which I have no issue, to clarify the methodology underlying how th…

I thank the Minister of State for the response. As I said, I have no issue with the parts in this section. However, the clarification and answer the Minister of State gave me was that it always was this way and, therefore, it shall ever be. Without delaying this process, will the Department officials send me a note on why it should always be this way? I am not advocating that it should change but I just want to know the rationale behind the Department’s thinking that may have been this way. We amalgamated the finan…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 6, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following: “(2) Section 44 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (6): “(6A) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, the Ombudsman may, where he or she considers it appropriate to do so to protect the interests of a complainant, accept a complaint with respect to a joint account or joint policy in instances where all owners of that account or policy have not consented to the compl…

I am very disappointed with the response from the Minister of State and Department. This is a real issue. I have an example of this. Coercive control exists. These people have a right to do what everybody else can, which is to make a complaint to the financial services ombudsman about the conduct of financial institutions. The Minister of State is telling me he will not do anything about the legislation that prevents them doing so where the person exercising coercive control over them does not allow it. That is non…

I heard what the Minister read from his note, but his note did not say that he could not do it. It stated that he had to be conscious of quasi-judicial procedures and so on. I have not seen legal opinion on this, and I do not have legal opinion on it, but I am certain there are ways in which we can address the matter if we put our heads together. Even if, as I said, we may not be able to do it for those who have entered into contracts, we can look at contracts in the future if there is an issue. The bizarre thing i…

I welcome that. As I said, the FSPO will operate within the rules that we set. It would be worth having that conversation with the Attorney General as well. The original Bill stems from the Zalewski case in the WRC. Any quasi-judicial organ of the State should have fair procedures, but fair procedures do not mean that someone should have to sign the complaint. Fair procedures can be about being notified that a complaint is in, and that an individual has the right to be there, to be heard, to be cross-examined and t…

This relates to SMEs. At present, a dual track or dual process is under way where people can appeal a credit decision by a participating institution to a credit reviewer, while at the same time submitting a complaint regarding the conduct to the FSPO. The section seems to clarify that the complainant may not make a complaint to the FSPO and it may not investigate the complaint in circumstances where the credit reviewer has already issued an opinion to the complainant. The text in the explanatory memorandum is a wee…

I am still not clear, and that may fall on me, on what the Minister of State said about updating and clarifying. People will still have the ability to make a complaint to the FSPO regarding the conduct. What will they not have the ability to make a complaint to the FSPO about as a result of the legislation? This legislation will ensure there is no overlap, which means it will remove the right to make a complaint in certain areas because it will have already been dealt with. Will the Minister of State explain what t…