Inniu, táthar ag dréim go n-ardóidh an Banc Ceannais Eorpach rátaí úis don seachtú huair ó bhí mí Iúil ann. Tiocfaidh sé seo mar bhuille eile do na mílte teaghlaigh. Is é anois an t-am chun faoiseamh úis mhorgáiste a thabhairt isteach chun tacú leis na teaghlaigh seo. Today the European Central Bank is widely expected to increase interest rates again. This would be the seventh time it has done so since July. This will come as a hammer blow to hundreds of thousands of families. It will immediately affect those 250,000 families and households with a mortgage on a tracker rate and it will hit the pockets of tens of thousands of households whose mortgages have been sold to vulture funds. Many of these households are being charged interest rates as high as 8%. They are now set to receive the seventh letter through the post informing them of a further rate hike and a further increase in their monthly mortgage repayments. This all comes at a time of great financial pressure for these families who are already being squeezed and whose finances are being stretched by a cost-of-living crisis, with the rise in food prices, transport costs and energy bills all bearing down heavily on them.

Last week, we heard from the Central Bank that one in five households are seeing their mortgage repayments increase by €400 per month. This is €5,000 per year. A borrower who recently reached out to me told me that her mortgage repayments had increased by €523 per month. This is an increase of more than €6,000 per year. Another person reached out to me to voice her desperation. Her loan was sold a number of years ago to a vulture fund. She has seen her interest rate increase time and time again. She said "I'm so stressed by this. My mental health is suffering. I have young children and I'm trapped in this cycle."

Last week, Sinn Féin brought a motion before this House calling for the introduction of targeted and temporary mortgage interest relief to support struggling families with rising mortgage costs. The proposal we put forward was a scheme that would absorb 30% of the rise in mortgage costs with a maximum benefit for households of up to €1,500. It was a sensible proposal that would make a real difference to countless families out there and take the sharp edge off the sudden and significant spike in interest rates these workers and families are facing.

It was a mistake for the Government to reject this proposal. The Government has claimed that it cannot act until the budget in October. Can I remind the Tánaiste that in the past number of weeks, his Government has announced tax changes on petrol, diesel and solar panels and tax changes for the hospitality and tourism sector and has removed levies for developers? All of this is outside the normal budget cycle at a cost of hundreds of millions of euro. Therefore, the argument that nothing can be done to support these families in the here and now with rising mortgage costs before October is simply a nonsense. As mortgage costs soar for hundreds of thousands of struggling households, the State can and should step in to support them and give them that type of relief. Now is not the time for excuses. Now is the time for action. Now is the time to be on the side of mortgage holders and to give them relief. As we see the cost to mortgage holders to keep a roof over their heads increase, people paying 8% - a figure that will increase after today's decision - and people being charged thousands of euro more than this time last year, will the Government finally introduce temporary and targeted mortgage interest relief, as Sinn Féin has proposed, to provide much-needed support for them? If it does not do so, what will it say to those families? What is it going to do? What type of relief will it offer, or will it just wash its hands and abandon them?

Under section 46 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, with the concurrence of the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, approves any superannuation schemes submitted by An Post. The operation of the schemes is a matter between the management of An Post, staff representatives and the trustees of the schemes. I have asked An Post to correspond directly with the Deputy on this matter.

The reductions in excise on petrol and diesel will continue until 1 June and about 1.3 million pensioners and so on are also benefiting in terms of additional social welfare payments. Our cost-of-living programme through the first half of this year has been designed by us in a comprehensive way. I think it is a better approach than just picking out things sector-by-sector every month, which is the knee-jerk response of the Opposition.

Hundreds of thousands of families will hear in the next hour or so that their mortgages are going up. They have just listened to the Tánaiste and have heard nothing on direct supports from him. His backbenchers will brief the media that the Government is considering this and so on but the leader of the party is still not saying that the Government is willing to intervene and provide direct supports for mortgage holders. That is a crazy situation.

People are already paying 8% interest rates. It will go up after today and is likely to go up further but we have a Government that is washing its hands and abandoning these mortgage holders. The Tánaiste’s party championed the idea of mortgage interest relief at a time when mortgage interest rates were a fraction of what they are now. Families are paying €5,000 and €6,000 more. Listen to the testimony. These people are locked in a cycle affecting their mental health. The Central Bank is telling us that more families are going to drop into arrears. What is the Government offering? Free childcare and free schoolbooks. We are asking for direct intervention for mortgage holders. We are asking for a response that is time limited and targeted. We have put our proposals on the table as far back as last year; the Government is coming up with nothing. People are pleading for action. Is the Government considering any direct support for mortgage holders as a result of this cost-of-living crisis, which has seen interest rates increase seven times in the last seven or eight months?

By the time of the budget last autumn, the European Central Bank had already increased interest rates twice. Despite that, Sinn Féin chose not to provide at all for mortgage holders in its budget submission. There was zero. Not a mention. That was Sinn Féin’s response to it. What I said earlier represents a very comprehensive and strategic approach by the Government to reduce costs generally for households, including those with mortgages. Essentially, we reduced tax in the budget. We have reduced the cost of public services in health, in terms of admission charges to hospitals and inpatient charges, and in education, not only with the free book scheme, which the Deputy seems to dismiss. It is a very significant intervention for many families with mortgages that they will not face the cost of books next September.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 55 together.

The Conservation of Coarse Fish Bye-Law No. 806 of 2006 referred to by the Deputy relates to measures concerning the catching and retaining of all coarse species including perch. The Bye-Law is in force for the last 17 years on a National basis.

As recently advised by my officials at a meeting of the Angling Consultative Council of Ireland, a review of Bye-Laws in force for 10 years or more and their application will be commenced shortly. It is intended that Bye-Law 806 of 2006 will be reviewed early in that process.

So there is no direct support for mortgage holders.

That is not something to be sniffed at or dismissed like the Deputy did earlier.

Time is up.

Government Ministers are briefing the media.

Local authorities are currently not in a position to use CCTV to monitor illegal dumping.

In order to address data protection concerns, Sections 22 & 33 of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 require that the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) prepare and submit to me, in my role as Minister, for approval, draft codes of practice for the purpose of setting standards for the operation of CCTV and other mobile recording devices, in order to deter environmental pollution and facilitate the prevention, detection, and prosecution of littering (Section 33) and illegal dumping (Section 22) offences. The preparation of Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) is also required as part of this process, which the LGMA are currently progressing.

The draft Codes of Practice will be submitted to me by the LGMA for approval as soon as practicable. Once approved, local authorities will then be able to put in place both litter and waste enforcement measures involving the GDPR-compliant use of technologies such as CCTV.

Deputy.

Nonsense. The Government is abandoning the mortgage holders.

Please. I call Deputy Cairns.