Speaking during a debate on the Personal Insolvency Bill, Sinn Féin TD for Dublin North West Dessie Ellis welcomed the legislation which he said was long overdue, but said that it was a disappointment to the thousands of families in mortgage distress who were eagerly awaiting it.

Deputy Ellis said:
“There is little doubt that the state, in its cavalier promotion of the bubble and its drive to make homeownership the national obsession, is greatly to blame. This bill, despite its many flaws is at least welcome in the fact that it is a piece of work which seeks to address the serious problem for so many people.”

“It leaves the banks still in a power position and does not properly position the debtor, the citizen, to make arrangements to bring a rational solution to the problem of insurmountable debt. We in Sinn Féin made clear when this bill was proposed that an independent agency must be formed in order to manage the process of debt resolution. This would have to be done in a humane and tailored way.”

“As this bill stands there will be no legal obligation for the banks to accept even the most reasonable of arrangements. This veto will without doubt make this bill in some circumstances completely irrelevant. Indeed with rumblings of a memo stating certain banks won’t accept write downs this seems to be a certainty in many cases.”

“All the well-drafted legislation in the world cannot be of use if there is a very clear get out clause. The reality is that if the banks were going to voluntarily engage in significant debt resolution arrangements then they would have done it. It makes sense for the banks to rationalise and address the inability of many of these mortgages to be paid but they have not done so in sufficient cases to indicate that anything other than an independent binding process is the solution.”

A Chairde agus gcomrádaithe

With the continuation of the economic crisis, unemployment and austerity in the 26 counties social issues have taken a back seat to discussion about bank debt, sovereign debt and bailouts.

One such social issue, a very core right which republicans strive for is housing.

But in many ways in the 26 counties housing has been taking the back seat for decades. Government policy has seen the end of any development and increase in the social housing stock of local authorities.

The responsibility of the state to provide a roof over the head of its citizens has been replaced with the need to form cosy deals with developers, landlords and speculators in order to enrich the few while hundreds of thousands are inadequately housed or not at all.

The economic crisis as I have said has only continued this pattern.

Last year the Department of Environment announcement what it termed “a radical new departure” in housing provision. Given the fact that what was outlined in the policy document this quote is taken from were nothing new, we must look at how the Department have pursued housing responsibilities since its publication.

The most glaring example is the very handsome deal squared with developers under NAMA that the department heralded as the Social dividend long sought by NAMA’s opponents especially Sinn Fein.

2000 units were to be identified.

Now 6 months later not one person has been housed by the deal and half the identified units have been deemed unsuitable.

But just were the details of this deal.

Really the word deal is misleading because the scheme setup by NAMA and the Department is nothing more than another feathering of the bed of developers who were instrumental in the states downfall.

The government plan to pay developers approximately 15 million euro a year for 20 years and then hand back the units for the developers to do with what they will.

That is an estimated 300 million over the lifetime of this scheme being paid to developers already bailed out by the public through NAMA and for nothing more than a 20 year lease.

We in Sinn Fein are committed to real social housing and state provision. To the true recognition of everyone’s right to housing.

The solution to the problems of the housing crisis and homelessness are within the grasp of the Fine Gael Labour government.
They must listen to us when we demand a real social dividend from NAMA and the recognition of the right to housing.

They must listen to us when we demand a target for ending homelessness, a dedicated strategy to deliver follow on housing and “housing first” and the equality proofing of all housing policy to ensure it serves everyone.

I welcome the motions to be debated on housing this year and encourage comrades to contribute to the discussion on what is an incredibly important issue for the people of our country.

Sinn Fein’s transport spokesperson, Dessie Ellis TD, has voiced his opposition today to the government’s plan to remove responsibility for licensing and testing of commercial vehicles from local authorities.

Ellis continued:

“A recent OECD report found that local authorities were best placed to provide these services and that they had a good record in providing good service which worked well with people and was accountable.”

“The government’s desire to remove this responsibility from local authorities is not based on any need to do this. The local authorities do their job well and I have never had any complaints to me about the process.

There are issues around enforcement, roadside testing and risk rating set out in EU directives but these do not require the move of responsibility to the RSA. I sought to amend the bill to fix this but these amendments were rejected out of hand by the government parties.

This is part of a continued assault of local authorities and a government project to make them irrelevant, weak and subservient to the Department of Environment. I believe the government is seeking to separate the state and local authorities from any activity which could be turned into profit for the private sector. We cannot allow this agenda to take precedent over good service and accountability.”