Central Bank amendment and bank lending
Deputy Fitzpatrick sought an update on promised Central Bank legislation amid banks refusing some loan approvals. The Tánaiste said there was no date yet but he would raise it with the Minister for Finance and stressed prudent lending.
I am looking for the Government to intervene on promised legislation. In the programme for Government, the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2018 is due for pre-legislative scrutiny in the autumn. Will the Tánaiste give an update on this Bill? The reason I am looking for this update is due to the fact that many of the main banks are reneging on loan approvals for PAYE workers whose employers avail of the Government's temporary wage subsidy scheme. It will be disgraceful if banks are allowed to get away with this. Many of these workers are in desperate need of a home for themselves, and in many cases, their families. They have done everything that was asked of them. They have saved for their deposits, paid their deposits, got their loan approvals in principle and it is just when they are ready to close that they are told by the banks that their loan approvals are no longer valid. I have spoken to people in Dundalk and there is a real anger about this. We all know the banks received help when they needed it and the taxpayers of this country are still paying a heavy price. I am asking the Tánaiste and his Government to intervene. I know the Tánaiste is meeting the Minister for Finance today-----
Comment on this
I am told there is no date yet for that Bill but I will take up the matter with the Minister for Finance today when I speak to him. We need to be frank and honest with people. Banks have a responsibility to engage in prudent lending and they should only lend money to people or businesses where there is a reasonable confidence that they will be able to pay it back. The Deputy talked about the banks being helped out in the past and the reason they had to be helped out or bailed out in the past was because they lent a lot of money to a lot of people and businesses that could not pay it back. It is not in anyone's interest for us to have a repeat of that. Because people have lost their jobs and because so many people have seen their incomes fall, the truth is that there are people who might have been able to service a loan a year ago who might not be able to now or in a year's time. We need to be honest with people about these things.