No repossessions Write down mortgages to current value – Collins

Joan Collins TD today slammed the Fine Gael-Labour-Troika plan to give more power to the banks to repossess family homes.

Calling for a mortgage write-down, Joan Collins said:

“This new threat of repossession will make christmas a miserable time for many families. The Troika have been pushing the banks to get heavy with people who are unable to pay boom-time mortgages. Their only concern is the profitability of the banks, not that families may lose their homes. As a result of the PCARS stress tests, the banks were recapitalised to cover mortgage debts. Irish banks also have €17.4 billion put aside to pay bondholders in 2013. These monies should be used for a write-down of all owner-occupied residential mortgages to lift the threat of eviction off hundreds of thousands of people.

As an immediate measure, the government’s Personal Insolvency legislation must be changed to remove the banks’ veto over agreements on what people can afford to pay. The inflation of house prices during the boom was caused by the banks. They must not be allowed to squeeze every penny from people who had to borrow huge sums to get a place to live.”

Collins went on to demand public control of the banks:

“The Irish state owns AIB-EBS and has a big stake in Bank of Ireland. These banks are acting in the interests of shareholders and bondholders – not the people of Ireland, who are saddled with the gambling debts of the banks. The operation of the banks should be fully taken over by the state. Existing management should be removed and bond payment and lending should be decided in a public, democratic manner that prioritises sustainable development and the creation of socially useful employment.”