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HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS CRISIS

October 24, 2015 Paddy Healy Leave a comment Go to comments
Continued Evictions (Courts Bill 2016)

Passes Final Stage in Dail
For the Bill FF, FG, Lab, Independent Alliance, Michael Lowry
Seamus Healy TD Amendment to Formally Declare a

Housing Emergency and Stop Evictions Defeated by the
same parties (see below)
Question put: That the Bill do now pass.
The Dil divided: T, 86; Staon, 0; Nl, 38.
T
Aylward, Bobby.
Bailey, Maria.
Barrett, Sen.
Brassil, John.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Canney, Sen.
Cannon, Ciarn.
Carey, Joe.
Casey, Pat.
Cassells, Shane.
Chambers, Jack.
Chambers, Lisa.
Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
Coveney, Simon.
Staon
Nl
Adams, Gerry.
Barry, Mick.
Brady, John.
Broughan, Thomas P.
Buckley, Pat.
Collins, Michael.
Connolly, Catherine.
Coppinger, Ruth.
Crowe, Sen.
Cullinane, David.
Daly, Clare.
Doherty, Pearse.
Ferris, Martin.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Healy-Rae, Danny.
Healy, Seamus.
Kenny, Gino.
Kenny, Martin.
McGrath, Mattie.
Cowen, Barry.
Curran, John.
DArcy, Michael.
Daly, Jim.
Deasy, John.
Deering, Pat.
Doherty, Regina.
Donohoe, Paschal.
Doyle, Andrew.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Fitzpatrick, Peter.
Flanagan, Charles.
Fleming, Sean.
Griffin, Brendan.
Halligan, John.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Sen.
Heydon, Martin.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kehoe, Paul.
Kelleher, Billy.
Kenny, Enda.
Lahart, John.
Lawless, James.
Lowry, Michael.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McEntee, Helen.
McGrath, Finian.
McGrath, Michael.
McHugh, Joe.
McLoughlin, Tony.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Michel.
Mitchell OConnor, Mary.
Moran, Kevin Boxer.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murphy OMahony, Margaret.
Murphy, Eoghan.
Murphy, Eugene.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Neville, Tom.
Noonan, Michael.
Cuv, amon.
OCallaghan, Jim.
OConnell, Kate.
ODea, Willie.
ODonovan, Patrick.
ODowd, Fergus.
OLoughlin, Fiona.
ORourke, Frank.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Ring, Michael.
Martin, Catherine.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Paul.
Nolan, Carol.
Broin, Eoin.
Caolin, Caoimhghn.
Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
Snodaigh, Aengus.
OBrien, Jonathan.
OReilly, Louise.
Pringle, Thomas.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Shortall, Risn.
Smith, Brd.
Stanley, Brian.
Tibn, Peadar.
Rock, Noel.
Ross, Shane.
Ryan, Brendan.
Scanlon, Eamon.
Sherlock, Sean.
Smith, Brendan.
Stanton, David.
Troy, Robert.
Varadkar, Leo.
Zappone, Katherine.
Tellers: T, Deputies Regina Doherty and Tony McLoughlin; Nl, Deputies Aengus
Snodaigh and Seamus Healy.
Question declared carried.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle:
accordingly.
A message shall be sent to the Seanad acquainting it
Deputy Seamus Healy: I move amendment No. 5:

In page 8, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:
9. Dil ireann formally declares that a housing emergency
exists in the State and while this emergency continues the right of
any person to remain in the dwelling in which the person
currently resides will take precedence over any property right of
any other person
(a) accordingly no court or other
authority shall order the removal of the
current occupant of a dwelling, or by its
decisions enable such removal
notwithstanding the provisions of any
Act currently in force including the
provisions of the Land and
Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013,
(b) the housing emergency declared in
this section can only be terminated by a
vote of Dil ireann, and the
Government including any Minister of
the Government are precluded from
annulling the housing emergency
without approval in such a vote,
(c) in view of the Housing Emergency
declared here, the power of any Minister
of Government to raise the market value
threshold of 75,000 for single or
multiple dwellings for consideration of
possession of dwellings cases by the
Circuit Court by activating or
commencing sections of existing Acts
without approval by a vote of Dil
ireann, is cancelled..
Amendment put:
T
Adams, Gerry.
Barry, Mick.
Brady, John.
Broughan, Thomas P.
Buckley, Pat.
Collins, Michael.
Staon
Nl
Aylward, Bobby.
Bailey, Maria.
Barrett, Sen.
Brassil, John.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Coppinger, Ruth.
Crowe, Sen.
Cullinane, David.
Daly, Clare.
Doherty, Pearse.
Ferris, Martin.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Healy, Seamus.
Healy-Rae, Danny.
Kenny, Gino.
Kenny, Martin.
McGrath, Mattie.
Martin, Catherine.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Paul.
Nolan, Carol.
Broin, Eoin.
Caolin, Caoimhghn.
Snodaigh, Aengus.
OBrien, Jonathan.
OReilly, Louise.
Pringle, Thomas.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Eamon.
Smith, Brd.
Stanley, Brian.
Tibn, Peadar.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Canney, Sen.
Cannon, Ciarn.
Carey, Joe.
Casey, Pat.
Cassells, Shane.
Chambers, Jack.
Chambers, Lisa.
Coveney, Simon.
Cowen, Barry.
Curran, John.
Daly, Jim.
DArcy, Michael.
Deasy, John.
Deering, Pat.
Doherty, Regina.
Donohoe, Paschal.
Doyle, Andrew.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Fitzpatrick, Peter.
Flanagan, Charles.
Fleming, Sean.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Sen.
Heydon, Martin.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kehoe, Paul.
Kelleher, Billy.
Kenny, Enda.
Lahart, John.
Lawless, James.
Lowry, Michael.
McEntee, Helen.
McGrath, Finian.
McGrath, Michael.
McHugh, Joe.
McLoughlin, Tony.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Michel.
Mitchell OConnor, Mary.
Moran, Kevin Boxer.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murphy, Eoghan.
Murphy, Eugene.
Neville, Tom.
Noonan, Michael.
Cuv, amon.
OCallaghan, Jim.
OConnell, Kate.
ODea, Willie.
ODonovan, Patrick.
ODowd, Fergus.
OLoughlin, Fiona.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Ring, Michael.
Rock, Noel.
Ross, Shane.
Ryan, Brendan.
Scanlon, Eamon.
Sherlock, Sean.
Smith, Brendan.
Stanton, David.
Troy, Robert.
Varadkar, Leo.
Zappone, Katherine.
Tellers: T, Deputies Seamus Healy and Brd Smith; Nl, Deputies Regina Doherty and
Tony McLoughlin.
Amendment declared lost.
It Was Left To Seamus Healy TD To Call

A Vote At Second Stage in The Dail
against The Planning, Development
(Housing) And Residential Tenancies Bill.
(Otherwise Known As The PRETENCE,
Hypocracy and Continuation Of Evictions
Bill)
The Dil divided: T, 91; Staon, 0; Nl, 45. Missing 157-136= 21
Tellers: T, Deputies Joe Carey and Tony McLoughlin; Nl, Deputies
Seamus Healy and Catherine Murphy .
Question
declared carried.
For the Motion: FG, FF , Michael Lowry, Finian McGrath,Dr
Michael Harty, Katherine Zappone. Shane Ross, Sean Canney, Boxer
Moran, Michael Fitzmaurice, Stephen Donnelly, Noel Grealish
Missing :John Halligan, Joan Burton, Willie Penrose, Sean Sherlock,
Danny Healy-Rae, (Some FF and FG Deputies were Also missing)
Staonadh (Staon) (Abstain) None (Deputies can effectively abstain by not voting but this
is not recorded)

SEAMUS HEALY TD CALLS FOR AN
END TO EVICTIONS AND FORMAL
DECLARATION OF A HOUSING
EMERGENCY
Government Must End Pretense of Concern and
Hypocrisy
Speech on Planning Development (Housing) and
Residential Tenancies Bill 2016
Video Link
From Official Dil Record 07/12/2016
Deputy Seamus Healy:
In the short time available to me, I will address in the main the
residential tenancy aspects of the Bill. The Bill is a pretence. It purports to give protection
to tenants when properties in which there are existing tenants change ownership. Cruelly
and grotesquely, it provides that where a landlord can get 20% more money with vacant
possession in the sale, the tenants must leave. It also provides that if apartments are sold in
lots of under 20, the tenants have to go. I understand that this number has been reduced to
under five by a Seanad amendment. However, 80% of tenants evicted from apartments are
evicted by landlords with under five rental properties. In a word, the Bill continues the
cruel system under which tenants are evicted when rental properties are sold. The
Government continues to put the rights of property owners over the right to home. It is
fast-tracking evictions in the Courts Bill, which is also before this House. The largest
single group among the homeless has previously been in private rented accommodation.
This Bill will ensure that this continues.
I will be proposing the amendment suggested by Focus Ireland, the homelessness charity.
The amendment provides tenants in buy-to-let properties will continue in residence despite
the sale of the property in all circumstances. Focus Ireland, the leading charity working
with homeless families and those facing homelessness, says up to 20 families are
becoming homeless each month simply because their buy-to-let landlord has been forced
to sell by his or her bank. This means that 40 children every month are losing their homes
and joining the record 1,200 families who are already homeless across the country.
Along with escalating rents, these evictions are one of the leading causes of family
homelessness. There are hundreds, if not thousands, more families waiting to face the same
trauma. According to the Central Bank, there are a further 15,000 buy-to-let mortgages that
are more than two years in arrears. Whether they know it or not, all tenants in these
properties are at risk of eviction. Other countries have found solutions to this. Just up the
road, in the North, banks that repossess a buy-to-let property are prohibited from evicting
the tenant. We must do the same. If the Focus Ireland amendment is passed, the grotesque
escape clauses in this Bill enabling eviction of buy-to-let tenants will fall.
I will also be proposing the formal declaration of a housing emergency by Dil ireann.
This would put the right of families to a home above the property rights of vultures and
other landlords. Landlords and the Minister for Finance would then be unable to block a
halt to convictions and be unable to block a halt to rent freezes by citing a qualified right to
private property in the Constitution, which is of course subject to the public good. The
Government itself has formally certified the continuation of a financial emergency as
recently as June of this year to enable it to continue with pay and pension cuts under
FEMPI legislation. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local
Government, Deputy Coveney, has said that a housing emergency exists. My amendment
would formally declare that to be the case. The Taoiseach has asked the European Union to
relax the provisions of the EU fiscal treaty to enable borrowing to build social housing but
he has not declared a formal housing emergency at home. Of course, the European Union
knows the Irish Government is only going through the motions because a housing
emergency has not been declared. I noted over the weekend that the Minister for Finance,
Deputy Noonan, called on the European Union to give flexibility under the fiscal treaty at
the EU Finance Ministers meeting. He and the rest of the Government can now show they
are serious by formally declaring the housing emergency. It is time for an end to pretence
and hypocrisy. We must halt evictions for mortgaged and rented properties as a first step in
tackling the housing emergency.
Committee Stage Of Courts Bill

Adjourned as it is revealed that StateOwned PTSB has appealed Hogan
Judgement to The Supreme Court
But No Media Coverage Despite Circulation of Report
and Full-Time Dil Correspondents Employed???
Government Bill TO FAST-TRACK EVICTIONS (Courts Bill) Adjourned
Government Caught out in double try-on
Government attempted to Appeal Hogan Judgement through State Owned PTSB appeal to
Supreme Court while at the same time taking Courts Bill designed to overcome Hogan
Judgement through DilCommittee Stage of Courts Bill has been adjourned after
Government found out !
Minister Staunton claimed Minister Noonan knew nothing about state owned PTSB appeal
to Supreme Court!!!!
Explanation
If tenants and mortgage holders could not be evicted in future, the value of property in
dwellings would fall sharply. NAMA would get far lower sale price for blocks of
apartments. Vultures who have already bought apartment blocks would make far less
profit. Banks, including state-owned AIB and PTSB would be worth far less as their loan
books would fall in value. Under the Eu Fiscal Treaty which cedes all Irish economic
sovereignty, the state debt to GDP ratio must be progressively reduced. FF/FG/Lab have
no intention of doing this by taxing the huge assets of the Irish rich.(See Irish Super-Rich
Awash with Money in another post on this blog.) Instead they hope to do it by selling off
Irish assets and using the proceeds to repay debt. Already the Dundrum and ILAC centres
are in majority foreign ownership as are many shopping centres and much commercial and
other property throughout the country. The government intends to sell off AIB, PTSB, EBS
and use the proceeds to pay down state debt. It also wants to sell off its shareholding in
other banks for the same purpose. Consequently it wants to keep interest rates on
mortgages and loans to small business kept very high by European standards. It wants the
value of bank loan books kept high by accelerating evictions so that banks can recover
distressed bank loans.(AIB has reduced its bad debts by 18.4bn since the peak in June
2013 a reduction of 63pc over the three years.This leaves 10.8 billion of impaired loans
on its books to-day). Government is also accelerating the sell-off of properties owned by
the state through NAMA.
It is in the interest of the Irish Government and the very rich Irish whose interest it
represents to accelerate repossession of dwellings and the eviction of residents.
The Land and Conveyancing Act 2013, introduced by Fg-Lab, was a major step in the
acceleration of evictions of tenants and distressed home owners. It transferred the majority
of repossession cases from the slow and clogged-up High Court to the county Circuit
Courts. However a case was taken to the high court against Permanent TSB by a borrower
and the court reluctantly ruled that the Circuit Court had no Jurisdiction (right to rule) in
a whole series of cases involving commercial property and buy-to-let dwellings.
This judgement known as the Hogan Judgement would slow up repossessions and
consequent eviction of tenants if not altered. The Government acted quickly through the
initiation in the Dil of the Courts Bill 2016 to restore the jurisdiction to the Circuit Courts
which had been removed by the Hogan Judgement. It was generally believed that this was
the means by which the government intended to restore the pace of eviction of tenants.
The amendments tabled by Seamus Healy TD (carried below) were designed to formally
declare a housing emergency, to halt evictions and to resist the intent of government to
speed them up.
Amendments were to be given detailed consideration at the Committee Stage of the Bill on
Dec 1, 2016.
However the Committee Stage of the Bill was adjourned because it was discovered that
Government through PTSB, which it owns, was seeking to speed up evictions by appealing
to the Supreme Court to strike down the HOGAN JUDGEMENT at the same time as it
was proposing the Courts Bill in the Dail for the same purpose-That is speeding up
evictions.
For some reason the Government must fear that the Bill alone will not be effective in this
regard. Hence it is attempting to use a twin-track approach.
The government is pretending that it was unaware of the Supreme Court Appeal though
this was reported in Irish Times on November 17.
Department of Finance, headed by Minister Michael Noonan, has a special banking affairs
section. It is not credible that Noonan was unaware of the Appeal
The majority of the Oireachtas Committee reused to continue to discuss the Bill and the
session was adjourned
Amendments to Court Bill (Fast-Tracking

Evictions) from Seamus Healy TD
Seamus Healy TD has submitted the following amendments for the Committee Stage of
The Courts Bill,2016:
Amendments
First Amendment Formally Declaring a Housing Emergency
Amendment for Committee Stage of Courts Bill,2016
From lines 15 to 22 Inclusive insert new section 1, paragraph 1 of the Courts Bill,2016:
(1)Dil Eireann formally declares that a housing emergency exists in the state and
while this emergency continues the right of any person to remain in the dwelling in
which the person currently resides will take precedence over any property right of
any other person including that of landlords
Accordingly no court or other authority shall order the removal of the current
occupant of a dwelling or by its decisions enable such removal notwithstanding the
provisions of any Act currently in force including the provisions of the Land and
Conveyancy Act 2013
The housing emergency declared in this section can only be terminated by a vote of
Dil Eireann and government including any minister of government are precluded
from annulling the housing emergency without approval in such a vote
and renumber existing sections accordingly
Second Amendment Stopping The State RETROSPECTIVELY MAKING

FLAWED EVICTION CLAIMS LEGAL
Amendment for Committee Stage of Courts Bill,2016
From lines 15 to 22 Inclusive delete section 1, paragraph 1 of the Courts Bill,2016 as set
out below
1. (1) Subject to subsection (2), where proceedings have, before the passing of this Act,
been initiated in the Circuit Court, being proceedings that
(a) are referred to in a specified provision, and
(b) relate to a property that is not rateable,
and which the Circuit Court would have jurisdiction to hear and determine if the
relevant associated provision had been in operation immediately before the
proceedings initiation, then the Circuit Court shall have, and be deemed always to
have had, jurisdiction to hear and determine the proceedings.
Seamus Healy TD 087-2802199
AMENDMENT TO PLANNING and DEVELOPMENT

(Housing) and Residential Tenancies ACT (2016)
( government is pretending to protect tenants when buy-to-lets are sold)
AMENDMENT RECOMMENDED BY FOCUS IRELAND TO MAKE PROTECTION

OF
TENANTS REAL in Sale of Buy-to-Lets
Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016
Committee Stage Amendment
________________
New Section 16.

In page 48, after line 37 to insert the following new section
Restriction on termination of tenancies of buy-to-let dwellings.
16. The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 is amended by inserting the following section
after section 34
Restriction on termination of tenancies of buy-to-let dwellings.

34A. (1) A Part 4 tenancy may not be terminated by the landlord on the ground specified
in paragraph 3 of the Table to section 34 where the property to which the tenancy
agreement relates is the subject of an existing investment mortgage.
(2) Subsection (1) applies to all tenancies, including a tenancy created before the coming
into operation of this section.
(3) Where, immediately before the coming into operation of this section, a notice of
termination has been served on a tenant in reliance upon a ground provided for in
paragraph 3 of the Table to section 34, section 34 shall continue to apply to that notice as if
this section had not been enacted.
(4) In this section, investment mortgage means a mortgage which has been taken out as
security in respect of a residential property that was not at the time of its purchase intended
to serve as the principal private residence of the mortgagee, and is subsequently the subject
of a tenancy agreement..
GOVERNMENT OWNED BANKS AND

OTHER LENDERS SEEK TO EVICT
OVER 2000 FAMILIES BEFORE
CHRISTMAS
More than 2,000 HOME REPOSSESSION Cases listed in the courts before Christmasplacing stress on families before the festive season
Significant escalation in enforcement orders since the middle of the summer
Mark ORegan Sunday IndependentPUBLISHED20/11/2016
The rise of family home repossession court cases is set to continue in the run-up to
Christmas, with figures currently at 2,600 a month.
There are 650 family court appearances a week, and experts have predicted there will be
this many into next year.
It came amid claims of a significant escalation in enforcement orders since the middle of
the summer.
The Sunday Independent has learned more than 2,000 cases will come before the courts in
the next five weeks placing stress on families before the festive season.
New Beginning a group of lawyers providing representation for those facing
repossession said 100 cases on average are being heard a month in Limerick, with the
figure for Cork running at 200.
In Meath, 150 cases are being heard on average each month, with 100 in Tipperary, 46 in
Kilkenny, 88 in Mayo, and 83 in Kerry. Central Bank figures have revealed the number of
repossessions of a primary dwelling home has dramatically increased in the past four
years.
In 2015, 726 homes were repossessed. This compared with 315 dwellings seized by banks
and financial institutions in 2014, and 251 in 2013.
In the first six months of this year, 240 homes were retaken by financial institutions.
Founder of New Beginning Ross Maguire said there had been a marked escalation in
enforcement orders in recent months. He added: There is a cohort of people in the country
who, no matter what they do, cannot afford their mortgage, and are facing inevitable
repossession.
David Hall, director of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, said the system is
failing families grappling with mortgage debt. He called on Housing Minister Simon
Coveney to declare a national emergency on the issue.
He said: There are 34,000 cases in arrears of more than two years and 59,000 between
one and two years.
VOTING ON SECOND STAGE OF

COURTS BILL IN DAIL
Bill removes legal obstacles to continued repossession of dwellings which are not
principal private residence of the owner through the Circuit Court. The Government has
also announced that it will seperately raise the threshold for the market value for such
properties to be considered by Circuit Court from 75,000 to 3 million by Ministerial Order.
These measures cannot fail to increase the number of evictions of tenants from apartments
and houses, increasing homelessness.
This will restore the value of such properties to Vultures, Banks, Nama. This had been
reluctantlydamaged by a Supreme Court ruling
FF, FG, Labour, Independent Alliance(Including Finian

McGrath) ,INDEPENDENT Dr Harty (Clare), VOTE
FOR COURTS BILL (Second Stage) INCREASING
EVICTIONS AND HOMELESSNESS
VOTED AGAINST:Seamus Healy,Sinn Fein, AAA-PBP, Independents for Change, Social
Democrats, Greens, 3 Rural Independents (Michael Fitzmaurice, Michael Collins, Mattie
McGrath)
DID NOT VOTE: Noel Grealish, Michael Lowry, Healy-Rae (2)
Bill has now Gone to Committee Stage. A final Vote on Bill in Dail is expected before
Christmas Recess.
Question put:
T
Aylward, Bobby.
Bailey, Maria.
Barrett, Sen.
Brassil, John.
Breathnach, Declan.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Peter.
Burton, Joan.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Catherine.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Calleary, Dara.
Canney, Sen.
Cannon, Ciarn.
Carey, Joe.
Casey, Pat.
Cassells, Shane.
Chambers, Jack.
Chambers, Lisa.
Collins, Niall.
Coveney, Simon.
Creed, Michael.
Curran, John.
DArcy, Michael.
Daly, Jim.
Deasy, John.
Deering, Pat.
Doherty, Regina.
Dooley, Timmy.
Doyle, Andrew.
Durkan, Bernard J.
Farrell, Alan.
Fitzpatrick, Peter.
Flanagan, Charles.
Fleming, Sean.
Gallagher, Pat The Cope.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Harty, Michael.
Haughey, Sen.
Heydon, Martin.
Howlin, Brendan.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kehoe, Paul.
Kelleher, Billy.
Kelly, Alan.
Kenny, Enda.
Kyne, Sen.
Lahart, John.
Lawless, James.
Staon
Adams, Gerry.
Barry, Mick.
Boyd Barrett, Richard.
Brady, John.
Broughan, Thomas P.
Buckley, Pat.
Collins, Joan.
Collins, Michael.
Connolly, Catherine.
Coppinger, Ruth.
Crowe, Sen.
Cullinane, David.
Daly, Clare.
Doherty, Pearse.
Ellis, Dessie.
Ferris, Martin.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Healy, Seamus.
Kenny, Gino.
Kenny, Martin.
McDonald, Mary Lou.
McGrath, Mattie.
Martin, Catherine.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Paul.
Nolan, Carol.
Caolin, Caoimhghn.
Snodaigh, Aengus.
OBrien, Jonathan.
OReilly, Louise.
OSullivan, Maureen.
Broin, Eoin.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Eamon.
Shortall, Risn.
Smith, Brd.
Stanley, Brian.
Wallace, Mick.
Nl
MacSharry, Marc.
McEntee, Helen.
McGrath, Finian.
McGrath, Michael.
McGuinness, John.
McLoughlin, Tony.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Michel.
Moran, Kevin Boxer.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Murphy, Dara.
Murphy, Eoghan.
Murphy, Eugene.
Neville, Tom.
Cuv, amon.
OCallaghan, Jim.
OConnell, Kate.
ODea, Willie.
ODonovan, Patrick.
ODowd, Fergus.
OKeeffe, Kevin.
OLoughlin, Fiona.
ORourke, Frank.
OSullivan, Jan.
Penrose, Willie.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Ring, Michael.
Rock, Noel.
Ross, Shane.
Scanlon, Eamon.
Sherlock, Sean.
Smith, Brendan.
Troy, Robert.
Varadkar, Leo.
Tellers: T, Deputies Regina Doherty and Tony McLoughlin; Nl, Deputies Aengus
Snodaigh and Jonathan OBrien.
FORMAL DECLARATION OF
HOUSING EMERGENCY NEEDED TO
REDUCE OUTRAGEOUS MORTGAGE
RATES
MINISTER NOONAN OPPOSES MOVE
TO REDUCE RATES BY CITING
PROTECTION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS
OF BANKS IN THE CONSTITUTION

LENDERS CHARGE UP TO 5% INTEREST WHILE ACCESSING
MONEY FROM ECB AT 0%-MORTGAGE HOLDERS BEING USED
TO BAIL OUT BANKS
The protection of property rights in the constitution is not absolute. It is subject to the
public good. Governments introduced a formal declaration of a financial emergency to
enable them to confiscate private property in pensions.But the government is refusing to
formally declare a housing emergency which would enable the private property rights of
banks, vultures and landlords to be overcome in order to halt evictions.
Now NOONAN has given another reason for the refusal-it could prevent lenders being
allowed to fleece mortgage holders
These huge interest rates are making it impossible for many householders to escape from
mortgage distress which means they are constantly threatened with eviction
From Irish Examiner 21/10/2016
Dil Report
Mr McGrath(FF) said banks here are being allowed by the Central Bank to charge
borrowers up to 5% when they themselves are accessing the money at close to 0% rates.
Real constitutional issues will need to be considered as this Bill is further progressed by
the Oireachtas. As it is drafted, the Bill will clearly impact on the existing property rights
of some creditors, Minister Noonan (FG) said.
SPEECH ON HOUSING AND

EVICTIONS
Seamus Healy TD IN Dil
Listen Live
Seamus Healy TD - HOUSING CRISIS AND FAILED CLONLARA E
https://wuag.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/housing-crisis-and-failed-clonlara-eviction/
Deputy Seamus Healy: The proposals in respect of social housing in this budget are
grossly inadequate. Housing is a fundamental right of human beings but shamefully the
Taoiseach has written to the EU seeking permission to borrow the money required to build
social housing. Ireland does not have the sovereignty to house its own people.
There are 140,000 people on local authority waiting lists and in the first four months of this
year an additional 3,527 have been added to that figure. This probably underestimates the
situation because people now availing of the housing assistance payments, formerly rent
supplement, are being removed from local authority lists. We need an emergency house
building programme of at least 10,000 houses per year to address this situation. The
Governments target of 47,000 houses to be provided between now and 2021 will fall far
short of dealing with the problem. In 2021 we will be, as we are today, in a housing crisis.
There is an absolute necessity to declare a housing emergency. The Minister for Housing,
Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, said publicly in July that
he believed we had a housing crisis. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform,
Deputy Donohoe, signed off on an emergency measure to ensure that public service
pensioners were deprived of their pensions under the Financial Emergency Measures in the
Public Interest Act 2015 but this Government refuses to declare a housing emergency
which is absolutely necessary to halt evictions generally and in rented and mortgaged
properties. The Government, through the banks it owns, Allied Irish Banks, AIB, and
Permanent TSB is effectively allowing evictions. It is also allowing them through other
banks, and landlords, including vulture funds. These evictions are continuing. As a result,
many unfortunate families have been devastated by suicide.
A shocking eviction was attempted last week in Clonlara in County Clare. I demand that
the Minister for Justice and Equality instruct the Garda to investigate the conduct of
security companies at that failed eviction of a family. Will the Minister establish what
security companies were involved and did those security firms possess an execution order
for taking possession of that family home? Did they present an execution order to the
owners of the property? If they had no execution order or did not present it to the family,
were they guilty of trespass? Were all the security firms involved in this horrific event
licensed according to the law? Had all the individuals involved in this attempted
repossession legal authority for their actions? Were all the individuals registered
employees of the security firms. Were children unlawfully detained during that incident?
Were all involved acting on behalf of the Bank of Ireland in which the State has a
significant shareholding? This was a shocking and horrific attempted eviction. Thankfully,
it failed. In a year when we celebrate the 100th anniversary of 1916, when we promised to
cherish all the children of the nation equally, what would Pearse and Connolly and the
signatories to the Proclamation think of the eviction battering ram of 2016?
I compliment the family, their friends and neighbours, and the anti-eviction task force
which successfully stopped this eviction. People power stopped this eviction. People
power will force this Government to stop evictions and to declare a housing emergency.
The sooner the Government does that, the better.
Supply of new houses to fall short amid

surge of demand-ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
(ESRI)
Irish Examiner By Caroline ODoherty,Senior Reporter 05/12/2006
House building is set to fall even further behind demand based on new forecasts that put
the number of extra homes needed at a higher level than previously thought.
The Economic and Social Research Institute says that demand for new homes will grow to
more than 30,000 a year within eight years.
Under the Governments current housing plan, a target of 25,000 per year has been set for
the coming years but nowhere near that number has been provided this year and there are
doubts that the figure can be reached next year either.
Population growth, fuelled in part by net immigration which returned this year for the first
time since 2009 and is likely to strengthen because of Brexit, will be the key driver of
demand.
Apart from the challenges for the construction industry, the ESRI says domestic banks
would struggle to provide the necessary level of credit without affecting safeguards around
deposit to loan ratios.
In a report published today, the ESRI warns: Results of our analysis suggest that in the
future the traditional deposit base will be unable to fund the level of credit required to meet
the housing demands of the economy. This will require significant changes in the domestic
financial sector.
Given the calamitous events of the past decade, a significant expansion in the lending
capacity of the domestic banking sector will immediately give rise to concerns about the
emergence of another credit- fuelled bubble.
It suggests there may be a case for the entry of foreign banks into the Irish retail banking
sector.
CLARE FM REPORT REVERSAL OF

ATTEMPTED EVICTION AT
CLONLARA
http://www.clare.fm/news/garda%C3%AD-investigate-allegations-assault-followingattempted-clonlara-eviction
CLARE FM WEBSITE
GARDA INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF

ASSAULT FOLLOWING ATTEMPTED CLONLARA
EVICTION
18 October, 2016 08:18
General
Garda are investigating allegations of assault following an attempted eviction in South
East Clare.
Its understood the court-sanctioned reposession of a home in Clonlara on Friday has since
been abandoned.
A video of the incident was posted on Facebook in recent days.
The video of the attempted court-sanctioned eviction in Clonlara has been viewed tens of
thousands of times since it was uploaded to facebook on Friday.
It appears to show a number of men, believed to be from a security company, being
confronted by members of the Anti Eviction Taskforce.
Its understood the eviction was subsequently abandoned, after family members gained
access to the home, which had been sealed off with steel shutters.
A senior Garda Spokesperson has confirmed to Clare FM that members of An Garda
Sochna responded to a call-out to the area to prevent a breach of peace.
An allegation of assault has been made, but no arrests have yet been made.
Garda are continuing with their investigations.
REPORT ON CLONLARA HOME

SEIZURE BY LIAM DEEGAN ON
FACEBOOK
(Seamus HEALY TD HAS PUT DOWN A
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION ASKING MINISTER
FOR JUSTICE FRANCIS FITZGERALD TO
INSTRUCT THE GARDAI TO INVESTIGATE ALL
THE ALLEGATIONS SET OUT IN LIAM DEEGANS

REPORT)
THE LAND OF SHAME AND WHERE BAILIFFS PLAY HIDE AND
SEEK FROM THE LAW
THE CIRCUIT COURT
In another illegal and shameful attempt at an eviction by the Bank of Ireland, again in
County Clare and this time on a mother with seven children. The mother of seven had been
understood to be in the Circuit court on Tuesday last having an appeal heard and had
arrived home only to find that one or more security companies had broken into the house.
The possession order had originally been given in the Circuit Court on the basis of rateable
valuation as previously used in civil bills by the banks. It is not yet clear as to why the
Circuit Court dismissed the families appeal on Tuesday.
Ironically the Circuit Courts are still hearing cases based on rateable valuation even though
it has been ruled that the Circuit Court no longer enjoys any such jurisdiction due to a
judgement given by Ms Justice Murphy some months ago and added to by having had the
verdict subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal within the last number of weeks.
CHILDREN LOCKED IN A BEDROOM
The security companies involved immediately moved in to take possession, having been
seen by passers-by to be hanging around the area earlier that morning. Metal shutters were
fitted to the most of the windows and doors of the property to stop anybody trying to enter
or leave, with the exception of one bedroom window which remained unfitted with the
shutters.
Meanwhile, members of the family have claimed that they remained locked inside the
property unable to access bathrooms and the kitchen area as security personnel remained in
situ with them. Calls were made for help by the family and as more family, neighbours and
friends arrived at the scene, the situation appeared to turn nasty with one security man seen
to block and assault a man trying to gain entry into the house to get access to the children
locked in a bedroom by security personnel.
Witnesses allege that the security team had taken chairs and mattresses from the childrens
bedroom leaving them nowhere to sleep. Two of the children have further alleged that they
were physically assaulted by members of the security team in the bedroom.
According to eyewitnesses and a video shown on social media sites and seen by thousands
of people, the security operative with grey hair and clearly seen in the video is alleged to
have assaulted a man attempting to gain entry and can be seen to leave the house to
confront another bystander in the garden. It appeared from the video that a verbal
altercation ensued between the two men, with the security operative going head to head
with the other man in a very intimidating manner and then seen to back off.
The identity of that particular security operative has now been established as Kevin
Maguire from Carrigaline in County Cork. Maguire was not wearing any form of
identification including any Private Security Authority issued ID card and refused to
identify himself when asked to by people at the scene. The PSA register has no record of
Maguire as an individual licence holder under that name.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Maguire claims to work as a director for Senture
Security Limited; however there is no record of him or anyone of that name on record in
the CRO acting as a company director. Maguires wife Mary is listed instead as a director
of Senture Security Ltd.
Further to that Maguires wife Mary also is named as a director of Secure Management
Solutions Limited with an address in Citywest, Dublin 24. Maguire, according to his
LinkedIn profile has claimed that he is a director of this company and again there is no
record of him in the CRO listed as holding such a position.
According to sources, Maguire was on the board of management of Carrigaline
Community School from 2012 and was made Chairman during the period of 2014 to 2015.
SECURITY COMPANIES ON SITE
The primary security company/companies allegedly involved were named locally and on
social media as Nightsafe Security Services Ltd and Active Security Management Ltd,
both with the same address in Melitta Rd in Kildare town and both owned by ex-soldier
Ross Howard and fellow director Tristan Hogan. Their website has a Vina Skehan
(otherwise known as Vina Horgan) listed as sales director.
After an initial investigation it was discovered that Horgan-Skehan who was clearly
witnessed to be in attendance at the attempted eviction is not registered with the Private
Security Authority (PSA) under either of her assumed surnames. Another individual who
goes by the name of John McShera and who is living in Boyle, County Roscommon was
later identified as one of the security personnel from his Facebook profile and by witnesses
on the ground and is alleged to be unregistered with the PSA under that name.
Another member identified on social media and by witnesses at the scene was named as
Anthony Hobbs from Kerry. Hobbs is alleged to be unregistered with the Private Security
Authority under that name.
Another individual clearly identified at the scene was named as Czech national, Roman
Fako. Although Fako is registered with the Private Security Authority, it is understood
from sources that information pertaining to his licence has been passed to the Private
Security Authority.
Other members of the security team have now taken down their Facebook pages after they
were identified by eyewitnesses at the scene. However ongoing investigations are
continuing into confirming their identities.
NO ID WORN BY SECURITY
None of the security personnel wore any form of PSA issued ID card and had refused to
identify themselves when questioned. Witnesses have indicated that they will be making
complaints to the PSA about Nightsafe Security Services Ltd and their sister company
Active Security Management Ltd, a company that Horgan-Skehan claims that she also
works for, according to her Facebook page.
THREATS
It is further alleged that Horgan-Skehan when contacted by telephone by an individual who
had been at the eviction attempt claimed that she has now resigned from the company and
that G4S Security has taken over and that there would be 40 people sent from G4S to take
the house back. No one from G4S turned up at the site.
On Saturday evening, in a telephone call with an individual who was on scene, Vina
Horgan-Skehans sister had made claimed that Horgan-Skehan was in hospital and that she
was distressed and suicidal. The sister went on to claim that everyone blocking the
eviction would be held liable if Vina Horgan-Skehan was to commit suicide.
She also claimed that Garda have all of the names and that arrests would be made. She
went on to state that the Sunday World was going to do a story on the individuals who
were present at the scene.
However, claims were made by eyewitnesses that Vina Horgan-Skehan was heard and seen
to physically threaten a female bystander with actual bodily harm and that she (HorganSkehan) had allegedly shouted to the bystander that she would dig the head off her.
It was further noted and observed that Horgan-Skehan had used threatening language in a
Facebook private message sent to one individual who had been at the scene and in which
Horgan-Skehan was seen to have threatened an individual with words to the effect of Get
your facts right, the guards will be dealing with you and I have your address, youll be
dealt with.
It is alleged by eyewitnesses that Vina Horgan-Skehan took an active part in the eviction
attempt as seen on the many videos circulating on social media. It was further alleged that
Horgan-Skehan was seen back at the property later that night (Saturday) by witnesses who
were still on scene.
The directors of Nightsafe Security Services Ltd and a sister company Active Security
Management Ltd were contacted for a response. A man calling himself Ian refuted any
allegations put to them in regard to their legality of their actions at the scene. He also
refuted allegations made by Horgan-Skehan that G4S were now the new owners of Active
Security Management Ltd. When it was pointed out that they were using unlicenced
operatives in evictions, Ian refused to engage any further after an initial denial of same
and ended the call.
Nightsafe Security Services Ltd/Active Security Management Ltd has failed to reply to
emails sent to their office.
CONFUSION OVER COMPANIES AT THE SCENE
There was some confusion in the initial stages as to which security company or even how
many security companies was involved. AOC Specialist Services of Ratoath, Co. Meath
were contacted for clarification as to their role in the eviction. They have not responded to
any telephone calls made to their company.
It should be noted that AOC Specialist Services acting on behalf of Bank of Ireland
employed ex-detective Garda Michael Murphy at a previous attempt at an illegal eviction
in Corofin County Clare some months back.
Murphy has now lodged an affidavit into the courts claiming that he was obstructed from
carrying out his duty as agent for the bank and is looking for a committal order against an
Anti-Eviction Taskforce member and the home owner Tommy Collins. This was the
attempted eviction where the security men wore balaclavas and taped up the registrations
of their cars in a misguided attempt to hide their identities.
Another company named for its part in the latest eviction was Dwellguard owned by John
Murray and based in Ballincollig in County Cork. Dwellguard supplied and fitted the
shuttering on the family home. Murray was not available for comment at the time of
publication.
Sources have indicated that allegations are now being made that the some of the security
personnel were being paid cash in hand as they are not employees of some of the
companies named here. These same sources have indicated that they have bought the
matter to the attention of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social
Protection.
The Department of Social Protection now have opened an investigation into certain named
individuals who were part of the security team.
NAME AND SHAME CAMPAIGN
Meanwhile, anti-eviction activists throughout the country have vowed to step up the
campaign to publically name and shame companies and individuals actively involved in
evictions anywhere in the country. In a chilling warning, a spokesman for the groups
involved, stated that any companies or individuals who take part in any eviction attempt on
a family home would be named and shamed not just on social media but in other more
visible and public ways.
GARDAI ON SCENE
According to eyewitnesses, Garda only attended the scene after as they had received a
report of an incident on Saturday but did not appear to get involved in any real effort to
assist the security companies. Garda left the scene shortly thereafter and did not return.
Later on Saturday afternoon, family members, neighbours and friends peacefully removed
the security companies occupying the premises and regained possession of the family
home.
THE AUTHORITIES NEED TO GET TOUGH
In what is becoming glaringly obvious, security companies are using unregistered
individuals while hoping not to get caught in the act. The Private Security Authority need
to be seen to be strictly enforcing the law surrounding the misuse of licences or in many
cases the enforcement of the law on security companies that use unlicenced people as
appears to be the case in this story. It further appears and is alleged that criminals from
other countries are routinely slipping through the vetting process and are obtaining licences
using false personal details.
The security industry already has a bad name and its about to get a lot worse. This is a
nightmare scenario for any law abiding security company trying to rise above the severely
tarnished image presented by security companies who have a lot less regard for the law.
Banks must also be taken to task in regards to their liability in using unlicenced operators,
and legal action needs to be taken against them accordingly for shirking their responsibility
in the matter. It is now quite clear that the law is being flouted by some security companies
and the banks jointly, and wholeheartedly supported by a very questionable judicial system
operating on the Circuit Court level.
It seems incredulous that the security industry still has its cowboys even after the big clean
up by the Private Security Authority. It would make sense for the law abiding security
companies to push the cowboys out of the market and help mop up what is essentially an
important industry mainly populated by decent people just looking to make a clean living.
Family Home With Several Children In

Clonlara Co Clare : Possession Recovered
by PEOPLE POWER AND ANTIEVICTION TASK FORCE AFTER

HOUSE SHUTTERED UP
BY SECURITY FIRM EARLIER IN THE
DAY
Congratulations To All Involved
Footage of the events which took place on Friday Oct 14 can be found by clicking below
and scrolling down to view several posts
Patrick Hannon
https://www.facebook.com/banjo.hannon?fref=ts
Homeless at Increased Risk of SuicideOfficial Report-Gerry Raleigh, Director of

National Office of Suicide Prevention on
RTE
Stop Evictions! Stop SUICIDES!
HEART-FELT APPEAL FROM KEN
SMOLLEN-TIRELESS ANTIEVICTION CAMPAIGNER
I was talking to Paddy Healy on the phone earlier today. Paddy works tirelessly for
his brother, Independent TD for Tipperary Seamus Healy. Both of these men are the
only people who work within the confines of Leinster House and who are actively
calling on the Government to declare an Official Housing Emergency However,
they are alone and receive little or NO support (you cant be upsetting the markets).
Its unfortunate that in order to make the other removed from reality elites sit up and
take notice, that its now becoming necessary that members of some family in Ireland
do the unbelievable brave thing of being willing to speak about a family member who
has taken their own life as a result of being in mortgage distress and facing the
horrifying thought of facing one of the EVICTION Courts.
The death of homeless man Jonathan Corrie close to The Dail made the elites take
notice of the homelessness crisis.
The elites are not interested in attending any of the EVICTION Courts, and are so
removed from reality to think they know what its like for people in this situation as
all of them spout on about distressed mortgage holders approaching them in the
comfort of their constituency offices.
NONE OF THEM have the faintest idea what so many people are enduring on a daily
basis
Im not expecting anyone to come forward to tell their own story about a family
member taking their own lives as a result of this very hidden crisis, but its a terrible
indictment on our uncaring TDs that I should even have to ask and all I can do is
hope that someone is brave enough to do so!
Ministers John Halligan and Finian McGrath ,Shane

Ross, Boxer Moran, Sean Canney of the Independent
Alliance must Force Government to HALT ALL
EVICTIONS NOW
EVICTION RELATED SUICIDES

CONTINUE
Ken Smollens post on Facebook
It has just been confirmed to me in the last few minutes that the father of a number of
young children who was due to appear before one of the EVICTION Courts this week has
sadly taken his own life. Out of respect for his family I will not be naming the location.
Suffice to say that our uncaring TDs have more blood on their hands as they DO HAVE
the power to put a stop to the never ending nightmare thats being experienced by
thousands of innocent victims of the bailed out banks and vulture funds!
May he Rest in Peace-Ken Smollen
GOVERNMENT, FF, LAB, INDEPENDENT

ALLIANCE ARE RESPONSIBLE
But Sinn Fin and Independents for Change Must Share
Some of the Blame
ONLY Ruth Coppinger Dissented from Flawed Recommendation
The Oireachtas Committee on Housing and Homelessnes recommended that there be a
pause in eviction proceedings until new debt resolution procedures were in place
Subject to advice of the Attorney General, the Government should introduce
legislation for a moratorium on home repossessions until such time as the
Governments proposals are in place. AND
The Government should urgently seek flexibility from the European Commission on the
application of the EU fiscal rules to the financing of social housing
Surprise! Surprise! There is no halt to evictions (even on a temporary basis) in Minister
Coveneys housing plan. Unfortunately Sinn Fin and Independents 4 Change(Mick
Wallace, Maureen OSullivan) went along with this easily rejected recommendation. (The
same attorney general had advised Alan Kelly against it)
Shamefully, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has written a letter to EU seeking flexibility under the
Fiscal Treaty which would give permission to Ireland to borrow money to build social
housing for the Irish People! This permission has not been given.
Government has also consulted its own the Attorney General, Labours M. Whelan but
evictions have continued.
Hence, the government can claim to have complied with two key recommendations of
the Committee. But the evictions and the suicides continue.
The anger at the continued evictions is more than justified. However, my bother Seamus
Healy TD(Tipperary) has repeatedly called in the Dil for the formal declaration of a
housing emergency and a total halt to evictions. The formal declaration of a housing
emergency is required to overcome the qualified protection of the private property of banks
and landlords in the constitution.
But Government,itself, continues to evict people through banks owned by state (AIB,
PTSB, EBS)
FG, FF, Lab, Ind. Alliance and,

Unbelievably, Independents for Change
and Sinn Fin put those facing
Repossession in the Hands of The
Attorney General who previously advised
that any significant interference with the

private property of Banks and/or
landlords was a violation of
Constitution!!! In addition the
recommended moratorium on evictions is
only for a few months!!!!!
(see Evidence of Alan Kelly to the Commission on Constitutional Obstacles to Solving The Housing Crisis
further down)
Recommendation on Evictions
Subject to advice of the Attorney General, the Government should introduce legislation
for a moratorium on home repossessions until such time as the Governments proposals
are in place.
Commission Fails to recommend a formal declaration of a housing emergency by
Government!!!!! This will enable banks an landlords to continue evictions despite the spin
in the Commission Report
Even the Minority Report by Ruth Coppinger TD, Socialist Party, fails to call for the
formal declaration of a housing emergency by the Dil
Oireachtas Committee on Housing and Homelessnes-Majority Report
http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/32housingandhomelessness/FinalReport-.pdf
MINORITY REPORT
http://antiausterityalliance.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Housing-doc-2.pdf
The Minority Report makes some very good points, particularly pointing out that the
FISCAL TREATY must be broken to enable the state to invest in housing. But the
advocacy of a referendum to change the constitution on property rights and the right to a
home, however laudable, is not an emergency measure. It is no substitute for the
immediate formal declaration of a national housing emergency by government to enable
legal interference with property rights in order to implement emergency measures
including a halt to eviction proceedings.
The Majority Report fails to call for breaking of the FISCAL TREATY in order for the
state to build adequate numbers of social houses. Not alone does it put those facing
repossession in the hands of the Attorney General(a member of the government), Chair
Curran(FF) has explained that the moratorium on evictions would only be a short term
measure for a few months. It would last until government put in place the governments
(inadequate) measures on debt resolution.
To make things worse, The Fianna Fail Finance Spokesperson, Deputy Michael McGrath
says in the Irish Examiner(18/06/2016) says that the recommendation to pause
repossessions is unworkable and SOMETIMES KEEPING THE HOUSE IS NOT THE
BEST ANSWER. In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr McGrath said losing the
home and starting again may be best for some people who can no longer afford to remain
where they are.Michael McGrath TD
Independents4Change was represented on the Commission by Deputies Mick Wallace and
Maureen OSullivan. Following the failure of I4C to support an amendment strengthening
the Workers Rights Bill put down by AAA-PBP, its complete acceptance of the grossly
deficient report is leading to queriess as to where it is headed politically.
Sinn Fin took the same position as I4C. A piece by Eoin Broin SF (member of the
Commission) in the Irish Independent 18/06/2016 points to no deficiencies in the report
and is quite complimentary of its FF and FG members.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/cowen-detached-durkan-rambled-but-reportshows-tds-agree-cure-34812099.html
The acceptance of the Fiscal Treaty by Sinn Fin has a particular significance. The Treaty ,
in effect,removes the fundamental right of the government to provide housing for all
citizens. How far has Sinn Fin travelled since Coimhn Caolain TD opposed the Treaty
in the Dil on the grounds that it flies in the face of the 1916 Proclamation in its
undermining of Irish sovereignty?
Even after FF through Finance Spokesperson Michael McGrath pulled the rug on the
moratorium on evictions recommendation , Eoin OBroin (SF) wrote in an opinion piece in
Sunday Business Post 19/06/2016
The Committee also called on the government to urgently request flexibility
from the European Commission on the application of fiscal rules for investment
in tackling the crisisthe strength of the Report lies in the fact that all but one of our 14 members
signed up to the final recommendations.
There is now strong support across the political spectrum for greater state
involvement in the provision of social housing, the regulation of the private
rental sector and targeted measures to meet the housing needs of those most
neglected by past policies
Coming from a professed republican, the request for permission from the EU to put roofs
over the heads of the Irish people is very strange. The notion of FF, FG who have always
favoured the rich, genuinely working to solve the crisis is at best naive.
Alan Kelly TD (Labour) gave evidence to the Commission on constitutional obstacles to
solving the housing crisis. (The protection of private property in the constitution is not
absolute-it is subject to right of government to provide for the common good). Kelly was
effectively quoting the Attorney General who continues in the new government. It is
important to note that Brendan Howlin(Labour) who was also a minister in the outgoing
government claimed to have overcome the constitutional obstacle to confiscating private
property in pensions in the FEMPI ACT by a formal declaration of a Financial Emergency
by Government and the laying of a document certifying continuation of the Financial
Emergency every year.
My conclusion from the evidence of Alan Kelly (below) is that the outgoing FG-Lab
government was not prepared to formally declare a national housing emergency and to lay
the documents before the Oireachtas. FG-Lab put the rights of property before the common
good. It continued evictions, including evictions by banks it owns.
Evidence to Commission by Alan Kelly (Lab) TD- former Minister for

Housing
Mr Alan Kelly, former Minister, stated that legal advice on Article 43 had stopped
him from introducing a more powerful vacant site levy, which would have imposed a
fee on developers who refused to build on unused land. He said that it had also
stopped legislation preventing keeping houses vacant and laws that would protect
tenants from so-called vulture funds, which invest in undervalued properties and then
profit from selling them: I was not hampered by political or financial obstacles. I
was blocked by the Constitution. (Advice to Sitting Ministers either comes directly from
the Attorney General or is commissioned by the Attorney General-PH). Kelly continued:
From the time it is taking to introduce the Vacant Site Levy in order to tackle land
hoarding, to protecting tenants from eviction in circumstances where their landlord
wishes to sell the property, and many other issues, I was repeatedly blocked from
making provision for what I believed was the common good by the strength by which
property rights are protected under Article 43 of the Constitution. I believe that we
need to honestly re-examine the balance between the protected and legitimate
property rights of individuals, as property owners, and the wider needs and common
good of society, including housing needs. As a society we need to reflect on the desired
impact of the constitution here. I believe that addressing these issues raises politically
and socially important issues which will have to be debated over the coming years.
Letter To All Members of Oireachtas Committee on

Housing and Homelessness-Paddy Healy Wed 15/06/2016
A Chirde,
I am an activist in a campaign against eviction of homeowners and tenants in the context of
a the national housing emergency as recently affirmed by Minister Coveney.
Some of those who are having their homes being repossessed are being evicted by the
government which is the owner of a number of banks including AIB and PTSB
I believe it would be outrageous for any member of the Oireachtas Committee to agree to
the issue of recommendations on housing and homeless ness which did not call for an
immediate halt to all evictions.
In the case of Banks in majority state ownership no legislation or constitutional change is
required. The government can simply issue an instruction to the banks it owns. If the bank
refuses to comply the Minister can call a special general meeting of shareholders in order
to put in place directors who will carry out the instructions of the owners. The Framework
Agreement between Government and Banks is a purely informal, non-legally binding
arrangement.
But, of course, all evictions should be banned in this emergency. This would require
emergency legislation which could be completed in one day.
It would also be important for government to formally declare a housing emergency
and to lay a document before both houses of the Oireachtas certifying that the
emergency exist. This would prevent landlords and banks blocking the
implementation of the legislation by attempting to invoke the constitutional
protection of private property which is limited by the necessity to provide for the
common good.
I and my allies will hold each member of the Oireachtas Committee responsible for future
evictions who assents to recommendations of the Committee which do not include the
emergency prohibition of all evictions until the housing and homelessness crisis has been
resolved.
Government is about to lay a document before both houses by June 30 which will certify
that a Financial Emergency continues to exist. This, it believes is necessary in order to
protect confiscation of private property in public service pensions from constitutional
challenge.
Yours sincerely
Paddy Healy
88 Griffith Court, Fairview, Dublin 3
086-4183732
PS I was very disappointed by the decision of the Committee not to invite The Hub
Ireland and Mr Ken Smollen to address you
Your Recommendations will be discussed at a public conference of anti-eviction activist to
be held in Killeshin Hotel Portlaoise before the end of this month-PH
PRESIDENT HIGGINS TELLS

GOVERNMENT:
IGNORE FISCAL TREATY! BORROW
NOW TO BUILD HOUSES AND TO
INVEST IN HEALTH AND EDUCATION
Well Done President Higgins!!
He (President Higgins) insists that seeking access for all to housing,
health and education what he calls values for decent living are not
wild, Bolshevik ideas.
And at a time of low interest rates, there is opportunity to invest in these
services. Better to spend now when money is cheap, he appears to
suggest, than be overly concerned with sticking to EU fiscal rules.Paul
Melia Irish Independent 17/09/2016
Instead of borrowing the money to build the houses, Taoiseach ENDA
KENNY HAS WRITTEN TO THE EU SEEKING PERMISSION!
IRISH SOVEREIGNTY-HOW ARE YOU!!!
Seamus Healy TD has repeatedly told the government in the Dil: STOP THE
EVICTIONS: Borrow the money immediately to build the houses and rescue the
homeless! Dont ask the EU. TELL the EU that the government is doing it, he said.
Italy, Spain, Portugal and other countries are ignoring the Fiscal Treaty when it suits them.
We should do the same!
AS THE BUDGET APPROACHES, GOVERNMENT SHOULD TAKE

THE ADVICE OF PRESIDENT HIGGINS
From Martina Doyle and the HUB-IRELAND
PHONE NO 01-5349118
A Sheriff has NO AUTHORITY to take a

property
Even a receiver cannot trespass on your
property
If they do, and you are fearful, call the Gardai, and tell them that you fear for your safety.
Quote Section of the Section 13(1) of 1 of the Criminal Public Justice Act, and ask the
Receiver/trespasser to leave.
If they refuse, they are committing a criminal offence which can incur hefty fine or a
prison sentence.
Stay in your homes. Fight the banks. We will help you. We are FREE
ANOTHER HUGE TAX GIVEAWAY BY

GOVERNMENT AND Michael Tommy
Cooper Noonan
How did the Government shaft mortgage
holders and taxpayers in one fell swoop?
The State may well have missed out on huge tax profits
through its sale of distressed home loans
Stephen Donnelly
Sunday Independent Published 10/07/2016 | 02:30
Questions to answer: Finance Minister Michael Noonan the Government refused to let
people bid on their own distressed mortgages Photo: Tony Gavin
The Irish Government could be complicit in wholesale tax avoidance by foreign
investment firms, which are generating huge profits in Ireland off the backs of Irish
mortgage holders.
Sarah and Dominic (not their real names) live in Kilkenny with their two children.
They bought their home in 2007.
The shop Sarah worked in closed during the recession she lost her job and they
started to fall behind on their mortgage payments.
Theyre getting back on their feet now, but with lower wages, theyre struggling to
make full payments. Their mortgage was with Irish Nationwide, which was
nationalised, so it ended up in state ownership, along with about 13,000 other
mortgages.
Two years ago, the Government sold these mortgages at big discounts, mainly to US
investment funds. The Government refused to let individual mortgage holders bid on
their mortgages. Sarah and Dominics mortgage was bundled with about 1,400 others
and sold to Mars Capital. According to finance minister Michael Noonan, this was
done with funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management.
Oaktree is a very large US-based distressed-debt firm that has bought up many of the
mortgages sold by the Government.
Until recently, we didnt know how big the discounts were that the State was selling
peoples mortgages at. Mars Capitals newly filed 2015 accounts show they paid 42
cent in the euro.
Sarah and Dominics mortgage was about 350,000, so Mars Capital got it for about
140,000 an amount the couple could have afforded. Instead, they still owe the full
350,000 to Mars Capital and face the prospect of eviction.
It gets better (or worse if you are Sarah and Dominic, or an Irish taxpayer). Mars
bought these 1,400 mortgages for 155m. About half of this was financed by a loan
from Citibank, with the remaining 80m being, presumably, the funds managed by
Oaktree Capital. The 2015 accounts of Mars Capital forecast that this 80m
investment will harvest almost 400m (net of the Citibank loan) in mortgage interest
and principal repayments (so thats the 80m back, plus almost 320m extra, less
administration costs). And this is just Mars Capitals first estimate. It assumes a level
of non-payment on the mortgages they bought. But as the Irish economy recovers and
payment rates improve, profits could become much higher.
In May 2014, Ireland was borrowing 10-year money at 2pc. Mars Capitals accounts
show them earning 14pc on their 80m, just taking into account mortgage interest
payments, from the likes of Sarah and Dominic. Why sell an asset yielding 14pc when
your cost of funds is 2pc? The Irish State could have given every one of those Irish
mortgage holders a 60pc discount on their loan and still have made 14pc per annum
in repayments. Wasnt Nama set up to do this?
However, it gets even better (and definitely worse, if you are an Irish taxpayer). The
funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management seem to be accounted for in Mars
Capital as notes.
Essentially, the 80m was loaned to Mars Capital, and Mars must pay it back, plus
interest. The interest on these notes is set at 10pc + variable residual.
In other words, the interest payable on the 80m can be hiked to soak up any, and
all, profit Mars Capital makes.
The accounts of Mars Capital clarify that these notes will suck nearly all of the profits
(interest and capital) from the company in excess of the Citibank loan. The 2015
accounts claim exactly 1,000 as taxable profit, while paying millions in interest on
the notes.
This tax-management structure is similar to what is used by some multinationals
based in Ireland. Often, such notes are registered in an offshore zero-tax location
such as the Cayman Islands, where their note interest payments are made and
accumulate tax-free, and get lent back to the parent as needed. As such, the profits
are taxed neither in Ireland, nor in the US.
Irish accounting and legal firms provide the expertise to the multinationals to help
them minimise their tax obligations. So what? Sure arent they providing jobs here?
Well yes, they are.
But if that same expertise is now being used to help foreign investment firms suck
huge profits out of Ireland without paying tax on them, then were all worse off.
We dont know where are the loan notes of Mars Capital located. We do know, from
Oaktrees US SEC annual filings, that many of their funds linked with European
distressed debt (ie Sarah and Dominics mortgage), are listed in the Cayman Islands.
So, if the Mars Capital notes happen to have been issued by an Oaktree Capital fund
located in the Caymans (and we have no evidence that they are), and if the interest on
the notes is adjusted in a way that leaves Mars Capital with very little taxable profit
(say the 1,000 filed for 2015), then not only will the State have missed the
opportunity to retain hundreds of millions of euro of value (and maybe spare Sarah
and Dominics family the threat of eviction), it would also be the case that none of the
profits will be taxed in Ireland.
To be clear tax avoidance is, by definition, legal (as opposed to tax evasion, which is
illegal). There is no suggestion that Mars Capital, or Oaktree Capital, have done, or
are doing, anything illegal. They are clever investors who saw an opportunity and
took it if they are structuring their investments to minimise tax obligations, then
they are acting rationally. The Irish Government, however, is not.
If very little tax ends up being paid in Ireland on the Mars Capital deal, the tax
leakage could reach well over 50m. And this is a very small deal in the scheme of
things if other investment firms have structured their affairs to avoid paying taxes
here, the total missed tax take will be in the hundreds of millions, conservatively.
Why did the Government not seek assurances from all foreign bidders that their
structures would ensure they pay fair Irish tax on their Irish-generated profits? If
some bidders organised themselves to move their profits offshore, did the Irish
Government know? Did the investment firms seeks assurances from the Government
that any proposed off-shoring of profits would be acceptable? Just how complicit is
the Government in what could be large-scale tax avoidance on profits earned off the
backs of ordinary families trying to recover from the collapse?
Best little country to do business in? I doubt Sarah and Dominic would agree. Neither
would those using our underfunded public services and infrastructure.
RENT OF HOUSES ROCKETTING

FISCAL TREATY RESTRICTIONS ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND
BORROWING IS THE CAUSE
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has written a letter to EU seeking permission to borrow money to
house our people!!!
THe IRISH PEOPLE must establish ITS OWN SOVEREIGNTY

A 32-county assembly wielding Peoples Power is The Answer
At the end of 2015, there were 139,359 or almost 140,000 people on local authority
waiting lists for housing. This is because virtually no local authority houses have been
built for years. Now due to the restrictions of the FISCAL TREATY, Ireland is not allowed
to borrow money to build social houses. This is despite the fact that governments can now
borrow money ay rock bottom rates. Enda has written a letter to EU seeking permission to
borrow money to house our people. Irish People have been reduced by FF,Fg,Lab, Greens
to the staus of beggars.
Now over 140,000 people have to seek private rented accomodation to get a dwelling
place!
Thousands of distressed mortgage holders are being driven from their homes each year.
They too must seek rented accomodation.
Massive and growing demand-No additional supply!!!This is driving the cost of rented
accomodation through the roof. The crisis is rendered even more acute when third level
colleges re-open.
The only answer is for The Irish People to establish its own sovereignty
Stay in your homes-HELP IS FREE!

FROM Martina DOYLE THE HUB-IRELAND ON
Facebook
PHONE NO
01-5349118
#thehubirelandrepealtheevictionbill
Dont suffer in silence.
There is help in hand.
It is FREE.
Stay in your homes.
If anybody tries to charge in our name, they are
scamming you.
Get a receipt
Please share as you never know who might need our
help.
Thank you.
Seamus Healy TD Supports the Call by THE HUBIRELAND to Repeal the Land and Conveyancing Act,
2013
Seamus voted against The Land And Conveyancing Act
(2013)
Seamus Healy repeatedly Called for a Halt to Evictions
and the Declaration of a Housing Emergencyin the Dil
Irish Times:Minister Noonan Replies to Seamus Healy on
Evictions
Minister says no political interference in bank decision,
but progress being made
Irish Times Thu, Jan 14, 2016
Marie OHalloran
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan: I appreciate that its very hard on people. I
appreciate people have lost their jobs and I appreciate how upset people are.
Banks have been dealing with the issue of home repossessions reasonably well,
according to Minister for Finance Michael Noonan.
He said this idea of tens of thousands of houses being repossessed is just not correct.
Mr Noonan said I appreciate that its very hard on people. I appreciate people have lost
their jobs and I appreciate the concerns and I appreciate how upset people are.
But in a very extreme situation its been handled reasonably well by the banks.
He was responding to Independent TD Samus Healy who asked Mr Noonan, as the
majority shareholder in AIB and its subsidiary EBS as well as the majority
shareholder in Permanent TSB, to call a meeting of the boards of the banks and to
instruct them not to repossess family homes.
He said that if the bank directors would not agree to that then sack those members.
You have the power to do that as majority shareholder.
There are thousands of families in this country, irrespective of what you say
Minister, facing homelessness by these banks, of which the Government is a majority
shareholder.
Mr Noonan said a relationship framework had been agreed by the Governments
predecessors in office that the political side will not interfere in commercial decisions
and they did not want to politicise the banks.
It would be a very sad day for the country if you were looking for a loan and your first
port of call had to be your local TD rather than the bank manager.
He said 207 houses were repossessed on foot of court order and that is not the 10s of
thousands of houses thats sometimes recited on the commentary on this.
He said 121,000 mortgages on private dwellings had been restructured and the success rate
was 86.6 per cent.
So progressively the problem is being solved.
Mr Noonan said statistics from the Central Bank showed that in the third quarter of 2015
(July, August and September) legal proceedings were issued in 1,687 cases of private
mortgages.
There were 798 cases where court proceedings concluded but arrears remained
outstanding and the court granted a repossession order in 329 cases.
A total of 422 properties were taken into possession by lenders during the quarter and 215
were voluntary.
Its a very small amount to go through the system and since the changes were made by the
Minister for Justice and that the money and Budgeting Advice Service are assisting people
before the courts that will diminish even further, Mr Noonan added.
Government Evicts Families-Statement by Seamus Healy TD
Jan 18 2016
This government is continuing to evict families from their homes.

In the Dil last Thursday, I appealed to Minister Michael Noonan to order the banks he
owns to withdraw repossession proceedings in light of the extreme housing emergency
which exists.
The Minister refused. This means that the government has given the green light to the
banks they own, to continue to evict families.
Court Orders for repossession of 47 primary residences were granted at Clonmel and
Nenagh Circuit Courts in the first 3 quarters of 2015. A further 8 buy-to-lets which also
house families were also repossessed. Banks are now seeking a further 97 repossession
orders for dwellings in Tipp, of which 32 are being sought by AIB, EBS and Permanent
TSB which are owned by the Government through Michael Noonan (FG) Minister for
Finance
Minister Noonan claimed that the issue was being reasonably handled by the banks.
Totally misrepresenting the situation, Mr Noonan quoted the 208 orders for repossessions
for the whole country for Quarter 3,2015 as representative of the scale of the
problem. COURTS ONLY SIT FOR 1 OF THE 3 MONTHS IN QUARTER 3!! The
Court Service Figures for the whole country for Quarters 1 and 2 are 586 and 314
respectively.
The proposed Eviction of 97 Tipperary Families Must Be Stopped Now!
Senior Minister Alan Kelly (Lab) and Minister of State Hayes(FG) must now intervene
at Cabinet to have a Housing Emergency Declared and all repossession applications
withdrawn.
In particular they must force Minister Noonan to withdraw the repossession applications
by the banks he owns.
Land and Conveyancing Act 2013
Second Stage
T
Richard Bruton
Joan Burton
Ray Butler
Jerry Buttimer
Catherine Byrne
Eric Byrne
Ciarn Cannon
Joe Carey
Paudie Coffey
Michael Conaghan
Sen Conlan
Paul Connaughton
Ciara Conway
Ciara Conway
Michael Creed
Jim Daly
John Deasy
Jimmy Deenihan
Pat Deering
Robert Dowds
Bernard Durkan
Damien English
Alan Farrell
Frank Feighan
Peter Fitzpatrick
Charles Flanagan
Terence Flanagan
Eamon Gilmore
Brendan Griffin
Dominic Hannigan
Noel Harrington
Martin Heydon
Phil Hogan
Brendan Howlin
Heather Humphreys
Kevin Humphreys
Derek Keating
Paul Kehoe
Alan Kelly
Sen Kenny
Sen Kyne
Anthony Lawlor
Ciarn Lynch
Michael McCarthy
Helen McEntee
Nicky McFadden
Dinny McGinley
Tony McLoughlin
Michael McNamara
Eamonn Maloney
Peter Mathews
Olivia Mitchell
Mary Mitchell OConnor
Michelle Mulherin
Dara Murphy
Eoghan Murphy
Gerald Nash
Dan Neville
Derek Nolan
Aodhn Rordin
John OMahony
Joe OReilly
Jan OSullivan
Ann Phelan
John Paul Phelan
Pat Rabbitte
Michael Ring
Brendan Ryan
Alan Shatter
Emmet Stagg
David Stanton
Joanna Tuffy
Liam Twomey
Jack Wall
Brian Walsh
Nl
Richard Boyd Barrett
Tommy Broughan
John Browne
Joan Collins
Niall Collins
Barry Cowen
Sen Crowe
Clare Daly
Pearse Doherty
Stephen Donnelly
Timmy Dooley
Dessie Ellis
Martin Ferris
Luke Flanagan
Tom Fleming
John Halligan
Samus Healy
Michael Healy-Rae
Joe Higgins
Billy Kelleher
Michael Lowry
Pdraig MacLochlainn
Charlie McConalogue
Mary Lou McDonald
Finian McGrath
Mattie McGrath
Sandra McLellan
Michel Martin
Catherine Murphy
Denis Naughten
Patrick Nulty
Caoimhghn Caolin
amon Cuv
Sen Fearghal
Aengus Snodaigh
Jonathan OBrien
Willie ODea
Thomas Pringle
Shane Ross
Risn Shortall
Brendan Smith
Peadar Tibn
Robert Troy
Mick Wallace
Voting was also as above on the Report and Final Stage of the Land and Conveyancing Bill
(2013)
3,041 families up for eviction in court in

this month of July
A grand total of 3,041 families up for eviction in court
this month of July. Ignoring the mortgage arrears crisis
is fueling homelessness at a horrifying scale. I am tired
contacting all the people who are paid to care. What else
can we do?Martina Doyle, The Hub-Ireland
Limerick 146 and 5.
Dundalk 55 and 52.
Tullamore 19 and 71.
Waterford 34 and 18 and 20 and 70 .
Dublin 57 and 4 and 4 and 55 and 1 and 50 and 59 and 5 and 10 and 2 and 5 and 54 and
8 and 57 and 62 and 2.
Cork 72 and 98 and 32 and 87 and 20 and 5 and 59.
Monaghan 102.
Trim 75 and 80 and 76.
Carrick on Shannon 35.
Bray 125.
Castlebar 78.
Portlaoise 40 and 32.

Naas 9 and 71 and 101 and 16.
Letterkenny 89.
Cavan 39 and 100.
Wexford 43 and 60.
Kilkenny 33 and 40.
Sligo 30.
Roscommon 75.
Ennis 84.
Clonmel 46.
Nenagh 58.
Carlow 41.
Tralee 64.
A grand total of 3,041 families up for eviction, one month = July.
John McManus Business Editor Irish

Times: 23/07/2016
Housing plan looks very like a bailout for
big builders
Its not that the Government cant bring down house
prices, more that they dont want to
Irish Times Sunday, July 24, 2016, 11:18
When it comes to sorting out the housing crisis, the Government really has two choices.
They can try to bring down the price of houses to a level people can afford or they can help
people buy houses at their current unaffordable prices.
Affordability is hard to define but for Irish purposes it equates to the limit put by the
Central Bank on how much a bank can lend you, which is 3 times your gross income. For
two people on the average wage, this is about 245,000. This is not a million miles away
from the average house price in most places other than south Dublin, but if you are a
single-income or low-income family, you are not buying a house any time soon.
The Government would argue they have done a bit of both with the action plan for housing
and homelessness published this week, but the true picture will not be clearer until the
details of the measures to help first-time buyers and house builders are unveiled at budget
time. Of the two options, bringing down house prices is by far the hardest one. Assuming
you could actually come up with a way of doing it that did not borrow from the Khmer
Rouge handbook, it would still be deeply, deeply unpopular.
The losers would include pretty much everybody who has a house. People would see their
positive equity eroded or their negative equity increased. The precarious buy-to-let sector
would be decimated. Builders and developers would be ruined and the banks would be
bust once again.
Strange though it may seem, a policy that underpins high house prices is the rational
political choice in a representative democracy. Consequently, you should not expect the
measures announced this week to bring down the price of houses to any significant degree.
If you are in any doubt, you should know that one of the bigger developers, Cairn Homes,
has welcomed the plan. Turkeys dont vote for certain Christian winter festivals.
Downward pressure
Its not that the Government couldnt bring down the price of houses. The main levers at
their disposal are social housing and rent controls. These are viable long- term solutions to
home ownership and if they are provided in sufficient quantities at the right price, they
exert downward pressure on prices.
But the targets for social housing set out in the plan will not put a tooth in the problem.
The plan calls for the construction of 125,000 houses by 2021, of which only one in five or
fewer will be social housing built by the Government.
The rest will presumably be provided by the private sector, and we can take it as read that
they dont plan selling these houses for any less than they are selling them at the moment .
They argue they are not even making money at current prices.
If prices are not coming down and wages are not going up and the Central Bank wont let
banks lend people more than they can afford, you get the sort of stalemate that prevails in
the Irish market. The Government, to its credit, is trying to solve the problem by providing
a limited amount of cheap housing but the bulk of its effort seems to be going into
subsidising the building industry either directly or indirectly.
The measures to be announced in the budget in October are expected to include a 10,000
package for first-time buyers and other measures to increase the profitability of housebuilding. At best, this will allow more people to buy houses at current prices and also
allow more builders to build profitably at current prices. At worst, it will trigger a jump in
prices.
No costing has been put on this part of the plan but if, for arguments sake, you assumed
that half of the buyers of the 100,000 houses that will be built by the private sector got the
money, it would be 500 million over five years.
It represents a massive subsidy for an industry that is fundamentally uncompetitive
because it has overpaid for land and is now sitting on sites, refusing to develop and playing
chicken with the Government. Those who worship market forces would argue these
builders should all be made go bust and the price of land should drop, allowing profitable
house-building by new entrants. In a socialist version of this fantasy, the State would then
spend 500 million building 200,000 council houses.
It doesnt really matter because neither of these things are going to happen. It may not be
the Governments intention but the housing plan looks like a massive State bailout for an
industry that is being protected from the consequences of its mistakes. Sound familiar?
2016 irishtimes.com
Eviction Proceedings-No Pause in

Government Action Plan On Housing and
Homelessness
FALSE PROMISE TO FIRST TIME BUYERS!
Bonanza for Developers!
Now we Know why the Oireachtas Committee refused to invite Ken
Smollen and THE HUB-IRELAND to address it!
Plan is just a pre-election gimmick

The Oireachtas Committee recommended that there be a pause in eviction proceedings
until new debt resolution procedures were in place
Governments proposals are in place.
Surprise! Surprise! There is no halt to evictions (even on a temporary basis) in Coveneys
plan. Unfortunately Sinn Fin and Independents 4 Change(Mick Wallace, Maureen

OSullivan) went along with this easily rejected recommendation. (The same attorney
general had advised Alan Kelly against it)
But now government promises to introduce more favourable resolution procedures for
distressed mortgages have been seriously watered down
The number of people presenting as homeless has doubled in the last 12 moths
Opposition members of the Oireachtas Committee say the Coveney Plan for building
social houses contains half the investment recommended by the committee.
The EU have been resisting informal government requests to allow money to be borrowed
by Ireland to build social houses despite the restrictions of the Fiscal Treaty for months..
NOW Taoiseach Kenny is going to WRITE A LETTER to the EU asking that Ireland be
allowed to borrow money to house Irish people? (Decisive action that!!!)-Irish sovereignty
how are you?
Eoin OBroin (SF) wrote in an opinion piece in Sunday Business Post 19/06/2016
in tackling the crisisThe Committee should, of course. have recommended that the government TELL THE EU
THAT IRELAND WOULD BE BORROWING THE MONEY TO HOUSE IRISH
PEOPLE IN THIS EMERGENCY, as advocated by Seamus HealY TD.
Instead Sinn Fin and Independents 4 Change joined FF and FG in a shamefully
compliant recommendation in the frame work of the Fiscal Treaty
BONANZA FOR PRIVATE DEVELOPERS-FALSE PROMISE TO FIRST TIME
BUYERS
Before any extra houses are built, financial supports will be given to first time buyers in the
budget next October (and backdated to to-day) to help them to purchase houses! But
there will be no freeze on house prices! In the context of miniscule supply this cannot fail
to raise the price of houses. This will be of no benefit to first time buyers but will provide a
bonanza for developers. Others moving jobs will also have to pay the higher prices!
Developers will also be given publicly owned land at cheap leasing rates on which to build
private houses.
IRISH HOUSING NETWORK-In effect, it looks like this will mean leasing public land
to private developers who will decide whats affordable. Without secure rent controls and
more public housing this will leave people as vulnerable as they are now, with evictions
and rent hikes commonplace as the markets decide peoples future for them. This hasnt
worked before and it wont work now.
According to Minister Coveney these measures willfix the housing market!
NO Housing Emergency Formally Declared

Despite verbal recognition of a national housing emergency by Minister Coveney earlier
this year, no formal declaration of a housing emergency will be laid before the Oireachtas.
Such a declaration would enable the public good to out-weigh the right to private property
in accordance with the Irish Constitution. Former Minister Howlin explained to the Dil
that annual certification of a financial emergency was necessary to enable continued
confiscation of private property in pensions. Minister Donoghue has done this recently
The absence of such a formal declaration could enable banks an landlords to continue
evictions even if the government ordered a pause.
Also, it is at least possible that private owners (including vulture funds) will be able to
block even some of the inadequate improvements contained in the Action Plan.
My DIT colleage, Dr Lorcan Sirr ( Faculty of the Built Environment) has pointed out that
thousands of dwelling houses are becoming obsolescent each year, thus reducing the
number of houses available for habitation. Government or local authorities are unable to
intervene unless the building becomes a physical danger to the public. No account is taken
of these obsolescences in the government targets for housing provision.
The absence of the formal declaration of a housing emergency enables the owners to resist
any interference with their private property no matter how outrageous their disregard for
the common good!
Misleading Government Spin

People Laughed at Richard Bruton when he said he would create 100,000 jobs but he did
it. Simon Coveney will drive the housing plan in the same way-Brian Hayes MEP(FG)
on Today with Sean ORourke(RTE) 22/07/2016
In fact the government were cutting public service jobs while jobs increased in private
sector. These private sector jobs were created despite the government austerity policy due
to favourable external circumstances-weak euro, cheap oil, strong demand for multinational exports produced in Ireland. These circumstances are already changing rapidly
and a new world recession will completely reverse them.
But government politicians never !miss an opportunity to reinforce a misleading story!
CONCLUSION
Like many previous Plans and Reports this ACTION PLAN is bound to fail
I believe that the government ACTION PLAN is a combination of a pre-election gimmick
and a bonanza for private developers.
FINAL WARNING TO GOVERNMENTHALT EVICTION PROCEEDINGS

NOW!
-KEN SMOLLEN
Next Saturday 25th June, the Standing Together meeting at 1.30 pm in The Killeshin
Hotel, Portlaoise can see real progress being made in our fight against the bailed out banks
and the vulture funds who have engaged in a hidden onslaught on thousands of decent,
hardworking citizens in our country and their families. There can be no doubt that in years
to come there will be an inquiry into how and why 3 successive Governments not only
allowed the terrorising of so many of their own people but actually gave this great injustice
their full support. Such an inquiry will undoubtedly lead to proper justice being meted out
to those directly responsible and also to anyone who helped facilitate this wrong doing!
For real progress to be made it is imperative that all genuine people, groups, political
parties and other determined organisations must work together. Any division in this very
justified campaign will not only please the very many uncaring TDs in Leinster House; it
will also lead to failure to achieve our ultimate aim. That aim should be to achieve fairness
for our people and a fair and sustainable solution to the mortgage distress crisis where
families should no longer have to go without some of the basic necessities of life in order
to keep a roof over their heads!
There can be no doubt that many of the people who will attend on Saturday will be living
through this ongoing nightmare every day. Others attending will simply be aware of the
crisis and see the urgent necessity for a resolution to be found. We can also be reasonably
certain that a number of politicians will also attend, with most if not all of them being fully
supportive of our unified campaign.
It is for that reason that I urge anyone who intends to be there on Saturday NOT to bring
banners of any kind, and NOT to bring coffins or coffin lids with slogans written on them.
This is NOT a protest meeting. IT IS a meeting where we must give the Government a
final warning or an ultimatum that they must force the banks who operate within this
jurisdiction to find a fair and sustainable solution for all mortgage holders, and while that
solution is being sought, that ALL Eviction proceedings in the courts throughout Ireland be
halted. We cannot afford to give them or any of the media who will be present reason to
see us as just a group of disorganised protesters. We MUST be seen as reasonable people
demanding a reasonable resolution to a hidden and growing humanitarian crisis that affects
probably well over ONE MILLION people in our country!
I have requested that the reporter and camera crew from RTE not to film or show the faces
of anyone in attendance unless they do so with the full permission of anyone concerned.
They have agreed to this and before any filming or photo is taken of the attendance that it
is done from the back of the room with a warning beforehand. This is to ensure that we
protect the identities of everyone in attendance. I would therefore ask that anyone who
intends to take photographs or film the proceedings to please adhere to the same principle
as we must not cause distress of any kind to anyone in attendance.

It is highly likely that the uncaring TDs in Government will call our bluff as many of them
will be of the opinion that there is very little we can do if they fail to take the necessary
and appropriate action in forcing the banks to engage fairly with their customers and if
they also fail to ensure that there is a moratorium on the Eviction proceedings in the courts.
This is where I am of the opinion that their thinking is very flawed. I have no doubt that a
properly organised group of people can have a huge effect on the workings of the courts,
solicitors, MABS, the Personal Insolvency Service and other such Government backed
organisations and all without the need for protest of any kind.
I have discussed such a plan with a handful of people and it will be openly discussed at
Saturdays meeting. I feel that its better that it not be revealed until then for the simple
reason that we dont want to show our hand before we need to. It will be simple to
implement, does not involve protests, but will require a minimum of about 10 dedicated
people in each county that takes part. I believe that together we can achieve great success
by working closely with people who genuinely want a resolution to this desperate crisis.
On Saturday if we decide to implement this plan, it should be enough to cause a huge
ripple effect that will cause major problems for the cosy cartel who obviously feel that they
will always have the upper hand. The more people there are per county will result in our
aim in those counties being achieved in a shorter period of time.
Even though Saturdays meeting begins at 1.30pm, I and a number of other people will be
in the Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise from 11.30am. Its not for me to decide who the seriously
committed people are who will lead the way. That decision must be made by each
individual themselves.
We must have a proper plan in place in order to succeed. As the saying goes, If you fail to
plan, you plan to fail!
Finally, thanks everyone for your continued support. I hope to meet as many of you as
possible before the meeting and Im looking forward to meeting everyone else at the
meeting which must commence at 1.30pm sharp.
Ken
INVITATION TO TDs AND SENATORS-KEN

SMOLLEN
Dear Member of the Oireachtas,
I would like to personally invite you to our third meeting in The Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise
on Saturday 25th June at 1.30pm concerning the desperately hidden mortgage distress
crisis and the associated Courts repossession hearings crisis that currently exists in Ireland.
Unfortunately the number of people taking their own lives as a result of this hidden crisis
continues to grow every day. The vast majority of these deaths go unreported, meaning
that the problem remains a very hidden and personal one for thousands of people in
Ireland.
This is our 3rd such meeting and again all TDs, Senators and MEPs are being invited to
attend. We appreciate the fact that a number of TDs and County Councillors attended the
two previous meetings. At the last meeting it was unanimously agreed that all TDs should
again be invited to attend on Saturday 25th June.
Your personal attendance at the meeting in Portlaoise would be very much appreciated,
when this extremely hidden crisis must be openly discussed and REAL solutions found.
Since retiring from An Garda Siochana in 2012, I have been highlighting the mortgage
distress/eviction crisis and working closely with many families in distress for the last few
years. It has been suggested by the many groups who volunteer their help and support to
families in mortgage distress, that its possible there could be as many as 10 people or even
more taking their own lives every single week.
I have attended many repossession courts throughout the country to offer my support to the
families who are being summoned to the courts by the banks and many people have told
me their own harrowing stories of hardship and desperation. One case involved a family
who were advised to go into bankruptcy. They raised the 4,000 required for the process
by selling the cooker and all of their furniture. They then removed the radiators from the
walls and sold them. The family, including their 14 year old daughter are now living in a
car in a secluded place close to Tullamore.
It is very clear that the Personal Insolvency arrangement and services such as MABS are
not the solution and are very far from resolving this crisis. This has led to a number of
voluntary groups coming together in an attempt to offer genuine help to thousands of
people who simply have nowhere else to go.
The meeting in Portlaoise is not a protest meeting. It will be attended by many families
who find themselves in this desperate situation and by others who are naturally concerned
by the continuing assault on thousands of families by financial institutions.
We are attempting to find possible solutions to the crisis and your attendance at The
Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise on Saturday 25th June at 1.30pm would be very much
appreciated.
Kind Regards, Ken Smollen, 085 143 2898
FG, FF, Lab, Ind. Alliance and,

Unbelievably, Independents for Change
and Sinn Fin put those facing
Repossession in the Hands of The
Attorney General who previously advised
that any significant interference with the
private property of Banks and/or
landlords was a violation of
Constitution!!! In addition the
recommended moratorium on evictions is
only for a few months!!!!!
(see Evidence of Alan Kelly to the Commission on Constitutional Obstacles to Solving The Housing Crisis
Below)
Recommendation on Evictions
Governments proposals are in place.
Commission Fails to recommend a formal declaration of a housing emergency by

Government!!!!! This will enable banks an landlords to continue evictions despite the spin
in the Commission Report
Even the Minority Report by Ruth Coppinger TD, Socialist Party, fails to call for the
formal declaration of a housing emergency by the Dil
MINORITY REPORT
http://antiausterityalliance.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Housing-doc-2.pdf
The Minority Report makes some very good points, particularly pointing out that the
FISCAL TREATY must be broken to enable the state to invest in housing. But the
advocacy of a referendum to change the constitution on property rights and the right to a
home, however laudable, is not an emergency measure. It is no substitute for the
immediate formal declaration of a national housing emergency by government to enable
legal interference with property rights in order to implement emergency measures
including a halt to eviction proceedings.
The Majority Report fails to call for breaking of the FISCAL TREATY in order for the
state to build adequate numbers of social houses. Not alone does it put those facing
repossession in the hands of the Attorney General(a member of the government), Chair
Curran(FF) has explained that the moratorium on evictions would only be a short term
measure for a few months. It would last until government put in place the governments
(inadequate) measures on debt resolution.

To make things worse, The Fianna Fail Finance Spokesperson, Deputy Michael McGrath
says in the Irish Examiner(18/06/2016) says that the recommendation to pause
repossessions is unworkable and SOMETIMES KEEPING THE HOUSE IS NOT THE
BEST ANSWER. In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr McGrath said losing the home
and starting again may be best for some people who can no longer afford to remain where
they are.Michael McGrath TD
Independents4Change was represented on the Commission by Deputies Mick Wallace and

Maureen OSullivan. Following the failure of I4C to support an amendment strengthening
the Workers Rights Bill put down by AAA-PBP, its complete acceptance of the grossly
deficient report is leading to queriess as to where it is headed politically.
Sinn Fin took the same position as I4C. A piece by Eoin Broin SF (member of the
Commission) in the Irish Independent 18/06/2016 points to no deficiencies in the report
and is quite complimentary of its FF and FG members.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/cowen-detached-durkan-rambled-but-reportshows-tds-agree-cure-34812099.html
The acceptance of the Fiscal Treaty by Sinn Fin has a particular significance. The Treaty ,
in effect,removes the fundamental right of the government to provide housing for all
citizens. How far has Sinn Fin travelled since Coimhn Caolain TD opposed the Treaty
in the Dil on the grounds that it flies in the face of the 1916 Proclamation in its
undermining of Irish sovereignty?
Even after FF through Finance Spokesperson Michael McGrath pulled the rug on the
moratorium on evictions recommendation , Eoin OBroin (SF) wrote in an opinion piece in
Sunday Business Post 19/06/2016
in tackling the crisisthe strength of the Report lies in the fact that all but one of our 14 members
signed up to the final recommendations.
There is now strong support across the political spectrum for greater state
involvement in the provision of social housing, the regulation of the private
rental sector and targeted measures to meet the housing needs of those most
neglected by past policies
Coming from a professed republican, the request for permission from the EU to put roofs
over the heads of the Irish people is very strange. The notion of FF, FG who have always
favoured the rich, genuinely working to solve the crisis is at best naive.
Alan Kelly TD (Labour) gave evidence to the Commission on constitutional obstacles to
solving the housing crisis. (The protection of private property in the constitution is not
absolute-it is subject to right of government to provide for the common good). Kelly was
effectively quoting the Attorney General who continues in the new government. It is
important to note that Brendan Howlin(Labour) who was also a minister in the outgoing
government claimed to have overcome the constitutional obstacle to confiscating private
property in pensions in the FEMPI ACT by a formal declaration of a Financial Emergency
by Government and the laying of a document certifying continuation of the Financial
Emergency every year.
My conclusion from the evidence of Alan Kelly (below) is that the outgoing FG-Lab
government was not prepared to formally declare a national housing emergency and to lay
the documents before the Oireachtas. FG-Lab put the rights of property before the common
good. It continued evictions, including evictions by banks it owns.
Evidence to Commission by Alan Kelly (Lab) TD- former Minister for

Housing
Mr Alan Kelly, former Minister, stated that legal advice on Article 43 had stopped
him from introducing a more powerful vacant site levy, which would have imposed a
fee on developers who refused to build on unused land. He said that it had also
stopped legislation preventing keeping houses vacant and laws that would protect
tenants from so-called vulture funds, which invest in undervalued properties and then
profit from selling them: I was not hampered by political or financial obstacles. I
was blocked by the Constitution. (Advice to Sitting Ministers either comes directly from
the Attorney General or is commissioned by the Attorney General-PH). Kelly continued:
From the time it is taking to introduce the Vacant Site Levy in order to tackle land
hoarding, to protecting tenants from eviction in circumstances where their landlord
wishes to sell the property, and many other issues, I was repeatedly blocked from
making provision for what I believed was the common good by the strength by which
property rights are protected under Article 43 of the Constitution. I believe that we
need to honestly re-examine the balance between the protected and legitimate
property rights of individuals, as property owners, and the wider needs and common
good of society, including housing needs. As a society we need to reflect on the desired
impact of the constitution here. I believe that addressing these issues raises politically
and socially important issues which will have to be debated over the coming years.
Letter To All Members of Oireachtas Committee on

Housing and Homelessness-Paddy Healy Wed 15/06/2016
A Chirde,
I am an activist in a campaign against eviction of homeowners and tenants in the context of
a the national housing emergency as recently affirmed by Minister Coveney.
Some of those who are having their homes being repossessed are being evicted by the
government which is the owner of a number of banks including AIB and PTSB
I believe it would be outrageous for any member of the Oireachtas Committee to agree to
the issue of recommendations on housing and homeless ness which did not call for an
immediate halt to all evictions.
In the case of Banks in majority state ownership no legislation or constitutional change is
required. The government can simply issue an instruction to the banks it owns. If the bank
refuses to comply the Minister can call a special general meeting of shareholders in order
to put in place directors who will carry out the instructions of the owners. The Framework
Agreement between Government and Banks is a purely informal, non-legally binding
arrangement.
But, of course, all evictions should be banned in this emergency. This would require
emergency legislation which could be completed in one day.
It would also be important for government to formally declare a housing emergency
and to lay a document before both houses of the Oireachtas certifying that the
emergency exist. This would prevent landlords and banks blocking the
implementation of the legislation by attempting to invoke the constitutional
protection of private property which is limited by the necessity to provide for the
common good.
I and my allies will hold each member of the Oireachtas Committee responsible for future
evictions who assents to recommendations of the Committee which do not include the
emergency prohibition of all evictions until the housing and homelessness crisis has been
resolved.
Government is about to lay a document before both houses by June 30 which will certify
that a Financial Emergency continues to exist. This, it believes is necessary in order to
protect confiscation of private property in public service pensions from constitutional
challenge.
Yours sincerely
Paddy Healy
88 Griffith Court, Fairview, Dublin 3
086-4183732
PS I was very disappointed by the decision of the Committee not to invite The Hub
Ireland and Mr Ken Smollen to address you
Your Recommendations will be discussed at a public conference of anti-eviction activist to
be held in Killeshin Hotel Portlaoise before the end of this month-PH
PQ REPLY YESTERDAY TO SEAMUS HEALY TDNOONAN REFUSES TO HALT EVICTION

PROCEEDINGS BY BANKS HE OWNS DESPITE
NATIONAL HOUSING EMERGENCY ANNOUNCED
BY MINISTER COVENEY
ONLY 301 Home Loans Repossessed Last Year By AIB, PTSB-MICHAEL
NOONAN
Repossessions of Home Loans are not frequent amounting to 183 and 118 for AIB and
Permanent TSB respectively in 2015-Minister Noonan
Just as he did in a previous reply on in Jan 2016(Dail Record further Down), Minister
Noonan seeks to minimise the horror facing families by misrepresentation and omission of
key information.
The 301 repossessions of family homes are 301 too many. These are the 301 cases in
which the state owned Banks Only were granted repossession orders. (See I.T., KITTY
HOLLAND further down)
Noonan omits the no of repossession cases taken by the state owned banks. Most of these
never reach the stage of the issuance of a repossession order. People are too terrified to
appear in court, of the publicity in small communities, the stress on young children at
school etc. it is common to surrender the house and to go to live with relations in often
overcrowded conditions. Some have committed suicide due to the extreme stress of the
threat of repossession.
Mr Noonan says he has no role in the matter of repossessions by AIB, PTSB, EBS. He
cites the Framework Agreement with Banks. This Agreement has no statutory force. Mr
Noonan adheres to the Agreement in order to wash his hands. Mr Noonan does have a role
in evictions. As owner of these Banks on behalf of the State, he knowingly permits
repossession cases to be taken though he can forbid this.
Please recommend that all repossession proceedings affecting dwelling houses, owned or
rented, be halted immediately
Paddy Healy
PQ as originally Submitted
To ask the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan TD,
if, in view of the statement by Minister for Housing, Simon Coveney TD that there is a
NATIONAL HOUSING EMERGENCY,
he will insist that Allied Irish Bank and its subsidiary the Educational Building Society and
Permanent TSB, which are in majority State ownership, desist from seeking repossession
of family homes through the Courts and withdraw all such existing applications before the
Courts and
if these bodies refuse to comply, will he call a special general meeting of shareholders and
use his majority share-holding to dismiss and replace directors refusing to comply with his
instruction and
if he will make a statement on the matter ?
QUESTION NO: 175
DIL QUESTION addressed to the Minister for Finance (Deputy Michael Noonan)
by Deputy Seamus Healy
for WRITTEN ANSWER on 14/06/2016
To ask the Minister for Finance if he will insist that a bank and its subsidiary (details
supplied) which are in majority State ownership desist from seeking repossession of family
homes through the Courts and withdraw all such existing applications before the Courts; in
the event of the bank and its subsidiary refusing to comply, if he will call a special general
meeting of shareholders and use his majority share holding to dismiss and replace the
directors who refuse to comply with his instruction
REPLY.
As the Deputy will be aware, I have no role in the day-to-day running of the banks in
which the State is a shareholder. These institutions are run on an independent and
commercial basis and the details of the formal relationship between my Department and
these institutions are set out in the respective Relationship Framework Agreements, which
can be found via the following links.
AIB: http://finance.gov.ie/sites/default/files/Allied-Irish-Banks1.pdf
PTSB:
http://finance.gov.ie/sites/default/files/Relationship%20Frameworks%20for%20the%20Irish%20Banks%20Irish%20Life%20and%20Permanent.pdf
In relation to the individual institutions referred to in details supplied Permanent TSB,

Allied Irish Banks and its subsidiary EBS:
AIB and Permanent TSB have informed me that they prioritise keeping customers in their
homes. Repossession is a last resort. Repossessions of Home Loans are not frequent
amounting to 183 and 118 for AIB and Permanent TSB respectively in 2015. In
comparison AIB and Permanent tsb have entered formal forebearance measures in respect
of 29,514 and 28,532 Home Loans respectively at December 2015.
While there are some differences between the banks referred to, their processes are
similar. In cases where customers do not meaningfully engage or do not engage at all with
the bank, reject the offer of a sustainable mortgage restructuring solution or do not
prioritise their mortgage payment, both banks are likely to pursue enforcement through the
court process. Its important to note that the initiation of legal proceedings does not
necessarily result in repossession and both banks seek to engage constructively with
borrowers at all times. Both banks offer a wide range of solutions and operates multiple
engagement channels that facilitate the maximum possible levels of engagement with
customers in difficulty.
Within the Programme for Government there are several policy proposals detailed which
are being worked on at present. The objective of these proposals is to accelerate the
restructuring of mortgage arrears cases and keep families in their homes in so far as
possible.
Irish Times Report and Full Dail Record of Noonan

Reply to Seamus Healy TDs Call to STOP
REPOSSESSIONS Further Down
REPOSSESSIONS: NOONANS MASTER CLASSPaddy Healy
SPINNING TO MISLEAD ON REPOSSESSIONS IN THE DIL!
It is No Joke but Tommy Cooper Strikes Again!
State Owned Banks, AIB, EBS,PERMANENT TSB, are seeking repossession of homes by
court order throughout the country.
Seamus Healy TD recently asked Minister for Finance Michael Noonan in the Dil to
instruct these banks to desist from this.
Mr Noonan refused and stated that In a very extreme situation, the issue is being handled
reasonably well by the banks.
In the course of his reply Minister Noonan quoted figures from a Central Bank report
which stated that in Quarter 3(July, August, September) 207 properties were repossessed
on foot of a court order. The idea that tens of thousands of houses are being repossessed is
just not correct he said.
This statement is entirely deceptive though there is nothing technically incorrect in it. It is
not just that he attempts to minimise the awful trauma for 207 families which are losing
their homes. A key tactic of the spinner to deceive is the omission of key information.
Noonans 207 court orders for repossession are for 1 month only!!! Circuit courts do
not sit in August and September. Hence the Quarter 3 figures are for the month of
July only!
The full information provided by the Courts Service and reported by Kitty Holland in the
Irish Times Last November is: Of the 1,088 court orders for repossession made in the
three quarters of 2015 up to September 30, 758 were for primary homes, 131 were for
buy-to-lets and 199 were for other dwellings. -Irish Times
Courts Service: Repossession Orders in Circuit Courts 2015
Q1
314, Q2 586, Q3 188
There was a huge increase in possessions in the April to June period. Mr Noonan omits
this information, and picks the figure for Q3 which he then implies is typical though it
contains one month( July) figures only! The reason the Central Bank figure for Q3 (207) is
slightly above the Courts Service figure (188) may be that the Central Bank figure contains
High Court orders in addition to the Circuit Court orders supplied by the Courts Service.
In time honoured fashion Spinner Noonan, to cover his tracks claims that it is others who
are misrepresenting the situation! The idea that tens of thousands of houses are being
repossessed is just not correct he said. Additionally, this allows him to suggest that the
repossession problem is really minimal and not nearly as bad as is being represented.
No journalist or serious person has spoken about tens of thousands of repossessions.
1,088 orders in the first 3 quarters of 2015 is already a disastrous figure!!!
For example, Kitty Holland, Irish Times Nov 12, 2015. says
: Banks have sought to repossess almost 4,500 homes since the start of the year up to
September 30, the latest figures from the Courts Service of Ireland indicate-Kitty Holland,
Irish Times Nov 12, 2015.
This is in line with the Central Bank Report: During the third quarter of 2015, legal
proceedings were issued to enforce the debt security on private dwelling house mortgages
in 1,687 cases (Central Bank Report).
Noonan invents the tens of thousands in order to minimize a problem which is in fact
already disastrous-the oldest trick in the book of the spinner.
STATE DIRECTION OF BANKS IS UNTHINKABLE!-Noonan
The right of human beings to stay in their own homes is a most important right. The vast
majority of people in mortgage difficulty are entirely blameless for their own predicament.
They were setting up homes at a particular time. They may have had to move jobs or have
been transferred in their job at a particular time. They were failed by the state and by its
organs such as the central bank and the financial regulator and by the government of the
day.
But Mr Noonan believes that there are superior rights and superior interests and that the
vindication of the rights of householders to stay in their own home is a secondary
consideration even if families must be placed in hotel rooms or hostels and may be
dispersed.
Mr Noonan: Notwithstanding the fact that the State is a shareholder in these institutions, I
must ensure that these banks are run on a commercial and independent basis to ensure the
value of the banks as an asset to the State
Finance Minister Noonan has already made clear his intention to sell the state owned banks
to private investors. Clearly, he is concerned to maximise the sale value of the banks.
Mr Noonan voted in the Dil to compensate in full international investors who risked their
funds in Irish Banks. Money was borrowed from international financiers to pay this
compensation. Now Minister Noonan and the FG/Labour Government are using the banks
to collect money originally paid to international investors in the same banks from the Irish
population. Accordingly, Banks are allowed to charge interest rates to all Irish borrowers
which are well above average rates in other European countries within the Eurozone. The
value of houses in Ireland has now risen. Hence the huge rise in repossessions between
Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 of 2015.
The Priority of Government is that the banks be fattened up for privatisation
Mr Noonan also tries to give the impression that he has no power to give instructions to
state owned banks.
He says: There is a relationship framework, signed by my predecessors in office, with the
banks and the essential component is that the political side will not interfere in commercial
decisions
Many listening may have got the impression that Mr Noonan had no power to instruct the
government owned banks. The old omission trick! Mr Noonan omitted the words
voluntary from voluntary relationship framework -And he blames his predecessorsFianna Fil- as well!
The truth is that Mr Noonan can withdraw from the relationship framework at any time.
He has taken a political decision to continue to honour it-and to allow the banks to evict
Irish families!
He then drags up the notion that stopping state owned banks from evicting people would
lead to people applying to their local TD for a loan and that the notion of state owned
and directed banks was preposterous! Of course there have been state owned banks in
Ireland for decades and there have been such in other European countries for even longer.
There are well tried mechanisms for dealing with the problem of people applying to
politicians for loans.
Noonan uses the image to cover up the responsibility of the government for evicting
people on the one hand and extorting money to pay off international lenders from
mortgage holders and small businesses on the other.. Pontius Pilate Lives!!!
Mortgage Arrears Problem is Being Solved Progressively-Noonan
Noonan gives the impression that the mortgage arrears problem is being progressively
solved through helpful measures put in place by his government. The truth is that the
problem of the banks is being solved by repossessing homes and extending mortgages at
exorbitant interest rates for a greater number of years.
Crafty Capitalist Representative
Michael Noonan is a very crafty political representative of the Irish super-rich, Irish big
business and of foreign big business. He is a master of spinning to deceive. He is
assisted in this by the editorial writers and by the media political and economic
correspondents. It would be simple for these to expose him but they have a vested in not
doing so!
In fairness Kitty Holland in the Irish Times has accurately reported the rate of actual
repossessions and court applications for repossession and columnist Fintan OToole has
exposed his Tommy Cooperstyle deception on tax equity in favour of the very rich.
Dail Record Jan 14/2016 Home Repossession

Parliamentary Question from Seamus Healy TD to Minister for Finance
Ml. Noonan
3. Deputy Seamus Healyasked the Minister for Finance if he will insist that Allied
Irish Bank and its subsidiary the Educational Building Society and Permanent TSB,
which are in majority State ownership, desist from seeking repossession of family
homes through the Courts and withdraw all such existing applications before the
Courts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1426/16]
Deputy Seamus Healy: Allied Irish Banks, the Educational Building Society and
Permanent TSB are in majority State ownership. They are adding to homelessness and the
housing crisis by repossessing family homes. I am asking the Minister, as the majority
shareholder, to instruct the banks to desist from this practice.
Deputy Michael Noonan: I would like to thank Deputy Healy for raising this question.
As he is aware, I have no direct function in the relationship between the customer and
PTSB, or AIB and its subsidiary EBS. Notwithstanding the fact that the State is a
shareholder in these institutions, I must ensure that these banks are run on a commercial
and independent basis to ensure the value of the banks as an asset to the State.
Decisions taken by the banks are a matter for the board and management of the relevant
institution. The relationship framework agreements define the arms-length nature of the
relationship between the State and the banks in which the State has an investment. The
banks are therefore entitled to pursue all options open to them in order to realise the value
of their impaired assets, within the significant constraints imposed by their regulator, the
Central Bank and the law as it applies.
The Government has put in place a broad strategy to address the problem of mortgage
arrears and family home repossessions. The primary focus of this strategy is to support
those home owners in difficulty with their mortgage repayments and, in so far as possible,
to avoid repossession of family homes. In recent months, the Government agreed measures
to enhance awareness of and access to the insolvency framework. We expanded the
mortgage-to-rent scheme, making it more accessible. In addition, my colleague, the
Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, also introduced the
Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015, which will, among other things, reduce the normal
duration of bankruptcy from three years to one year.
The Central Bank of Irelands code of conduct on mortgage arrears also provides
protection as it sets out requirements for lenders dealing with borrowers who are facing, or
in, mortgage arrears on their primary residence. It ensures that borrowers struggling to
keep up mortgage repayments are treated in a fair and transparent manner by their lenders
and that long-term resolution is sought by lenders with each of their borrowers.
The number of mortgages in arrears continues to fall. There are almost 121,000
restructuring arrangements in place and the vast majority of these are working. The figures
demonstrate that most families can, working with their financial institutions, find an
arrangement to make their mortgage commitments affordable. Active engagement by
indebted borrowers with their lenders is key to achieving sustainable resolutions. I would
urge borrowers in arrears who have not already done so to take that step by contacting their
lender directly, or MABS, for an independent assessment of their situation and advice on
available resolution options.

Deputy Seamus Healy: There is a tsunami of homelessness in this country. Last
November, the Dublin Homeless Executive provided figures according to which some
1,425 children in 677 families were in emergency accommodation. The Dublin Simon
Community said that was unacceptable and shameful. Focus Ireland said that the
Government had failed these families. The Master of the High Court, Mr. Edmund
Honohan, criticised the banks and accused them of hounding home owners to suicide.
[Deputy Seamus Healy: ] He criticised the fast-tracked repossession regime that the
Government has allowed to be introduced in the courts. These banks are majority owned
by the State and it is open to the Minister to instruct these banks to desist from
repossessing family homes. In Tipperary alone, 100 families are facing repossession. The
Minister should insist that this stop.
Deputy Michael Noonan: Deputy Healy raised the very important issue of homelessness
and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan
Kelly, brought forward proposals last year that have blunted the edge of this particular
social crisis. Certainly, over the Christmas period there was less sense of a crisis with
homelessness than there had been earlier in the year. The measures introduced by the
Minister, Deputy Kelly, have been working and, please God, they will continue to work.
On the wider issue of repossession, which was the topic of the Deputys notified question,
there is some interesting data published by the Central Bank. During the third quarter of
2015, legal proceedings were issued to enforce the debt security on private dwelling house
mortgages in 1,687 cases. During quarter three, there were 798 cases where court
proceedings concluded but arrears remained outstanding. In 329 cases, the court granted an
order for repossession or the sale of the property. A total of 422 properties were taken into
possession by lenders in the quarter, of which 207 were repossessed on foot of a court
order. The remaining 215 were voluntarily surrendered or abandoned. The idea that tens of
thousands of houses are being repossessed is just not correct. A small amount goes through
the system. With the changes made by the Minister for Justice and Equality and with the
Money Advice & Budgeting Service assisting directly people before the courts, I hope the
number will diminish even further. It is the policy of the Government to put arrangements
in place so that people can live in the family home.
Deputy Seamus Healy: The Minister is the majority shareholder in these banks and he
has obviously given permission to the banks to repossess family homes. He could equally
instruct these banks not to go down this road and repossess family homes. He could call an
emergency meeting of these bank boards and instruct them not to repossess family homes.
I ask him to do so immediately and if bank directors do not agree, they should be sacked,
as the Minister has the power to do so as a majority shareholder. This is urgent and,
irrespective of the Ministers comments, thousands of families in the country are facing
homelessness because of banks in which the State has a majority shareholding. The
Minister could give instructions to stop these repossessions and I ask him to do so
immediately.
Deputy Michael Noonan: There is a relationship framework, signed by my predecessors
in office, with the banks and the essential component is that the political side will not
interfere in commercial decisions. That is for a very good reason as we do not want to
politicise the banks. It would be a very sad day for the country if the first port of call for a
person seeking a loan had to be the local Deputy rather than a bank manager.
Deputy Seamus Healy: We are not asking anybody to do that at all.
Deputy Michael Noonan: There will be no political interference with the banks. On the
question of repossessions, 207 houses were repossessed on foot of a court order, which
does not equate to the tens of thousands of houses sometimes mentioned in commentary.
There are 121,000 restructured mortgages on private dwellings, with a success rate of
86.6%. That means the arrangements stick in just under 87% of cases. The problem is
being solved progressively. I appreciate it is very hard on people and I can appreciate that
people who lost their jobs do not have money. I also appreciate the concerns and how upset
people are. In a very extreme situation, the issue is being handled reasonably well by the
banks
Woman facing return to prison over

refusal
Noonan: home repossessions being

handled reasonably well
Irish Times Thu, Jan 14, 2016, 11:39 Updated: Thu, Jan 14, 2016, 12:03
Marie OHalloran
majority shareholder in AIB and its subsidiary EBS as well as the majority shareholder
in Permanent TSB, to call a meeting of the boards of the banks and to instruct them not
to repossess family homes.
He said that if the bank directors would not agree to that then sack those members. You
have the power to do that as majority shareholder.
There are thousands of families in this country, irrespective of what you say Minister,
facing homelessness by these banks, of which the Government is a majority shareholder.
was 86.6 per cent.
mortgages.
were voluntary.
Government Evicts Families-Statement bySeamus Healy TD

which exists.
Finance
for the whole country for Quarter 3,2015 as representative of the scale of the
problem. COURTS ONLY SIT FOR 1 OF THE 3 MONTHS IN QUARTER 3!! The
Court Service Figures for the whole country for Quarters 1 and 2 are 586 and 314
respectively.
Senior Minister Alan Kelly (Lab) and Minister of State Hayes(FG) must now intervene at
Cabinet to have a Housing Emergency Declared and all repossession applications
withdrawn.
Castlebar Court Anti-Eviction Protest

https://www.facebook.com/cashin3/videos/vb.100001246297556/1173381982713334/?
type=2&theater
13/06/2016
We have being contacted by RTE Over the passed few days over the selling of family
home mortgages to vulture funds across the county When Gerry O Boyle campaigned in
the last general election on this issue the matter was not allowed to be high-lighted. Now it
has come the light with the assistance of Gerry O Boyle. RTE has decided to do a
documentary on corruption of Irish banks and the cover up. RTE is now expected to do full
coverage from Castlebar Eviction Court on June the 13th
Men in balaclavas evict families for vulture capitalists invited in by government to
feed on the public
Irish Mirror Pat Flanagan 15:33, 3 Jun 2016 Mass evictions
loom after it was revealed that 46,000 mortgages the equivalent to all the homes in
Drogheda and Dundalk are now in the hands of vulture funds. The sight of men in
balaclavas attempting to evict families from their homes as gardai stand idly by
confirms that we are living in a very sick state. Tens of thousands of families face being
evicted by the vultures. When a Government invites vultures into our country to feed on
the misery of families in danger of losing their homes, you know Irish society has lost its
moral compass. The sight of men in balaclavas attempting to evict families from their
homes as gardai stand idly by confirms that we are living in a very sick state.Ireland is
indeed a warped country which poisons golden eagles and venerates vultures selling off
thousands of distressed mortgages at knockdown prices while refusing to give
homeowners a writedown.
It is perhaps a metaphor for a country in terminal social decline where the vulnerable are
fed to unscrupulous wealth funds who have not the slightest inkling of concern for their
welfare.
There are few more reviled birds then the vulture yet our Finance Minister is a fan and
believes they play a pivotal role in nature.
This is what he actually said: Vultures provide a very good service in the ecology through
cleaning up dead animals that are littered across the landscape.
The dead animals he is talking about are the tens of thousands of people whose mortgages
have been sold to foreign wealth funds without them having the opportunity of doing a
deal with their former lender.
Ulster Banks decision to sell 900 home mortgages to vulture funds at a huge discount
could lead to most of the families involved being evicted from their homes.
This rotten bank is not only heartless, they are gross hypocrites as they claim they do not
do debt forgiveness yet sell off huge property portfolios to vulture funds at a fraction of
their worth.
Ulster Bank is a private company which is in business for profit, what possible excuse can
the State have for selling off thousands of homes in the middle of the worst housing in our
history.
Vulture lover Noonan recently had the gall to claim he put safeguards in place to prevent
the vultures kicking people from their homes when the mass evictions have already started.
Such protection as vultures give to lambs, said the 18th century Irish dramatist Richard
Brinsley Sheridan. he could have been talking about our Finance Minister.
The spiralling number of evictions has not come about by accident but as a result of actual
Government policies which specifically set out to sell off huge property portfolios which
could only be bought by vulture funds.
Around 90% of the States bad bank Namas assets have been sold to international
speculators who have got them at a fraction of their true worth.
What is even more disturbing is that it appears the gardai are allowing hooded agents of
the vultures terrorise families in the course of evictions as the Royal Irish Constabulary did
for absentee landlords in the 19th century.
It is something of a sick joke that the country has been losing the run of itself celebrating
1916 and the beginning of the end of British rule when our government has handed over
the homes, and the lives, of tends of thousands of families to anonymous foreigners.
Both Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan have taken time out to actually meet and greet the
vultures and invited these scavengers to our country to feast on Irish families.
To help them digest the financial flesh the law here allows wealth funds to avail of
favourable tax deals which are outside the reach of the Central Bank.
On the subject of the Central Bank, two years ago the then Governor Patrick Honohan said
he was very unhappy about the sale of mortgage books to vulture funds and highlighted the
consequences for tenants.
But Fine Gael and Labour were determined that the vultures be fed and allowed the sell-off
which saw property portfolios worth tens of billions of euro go ahead with massive
writedowns.
It is estimated that around 46,000 mortgages the equivalent to all the homes in Drogheda
and Dundalk are now in the hands of vulture funds.
The newly-created Dublin Tenants Association has called for new laws to stop vulture
capitalists from forcing families out of their homes.
DTA spokesman Patrick Bresnihan said: This is not a natural disaster. The reality is
government policy has been to facilitate vulture funds at every turn, without any research
into the impact of international funds on the Irish housing system.
The dreadful situation which families find themselves in is a direct reflection of the ethos
and ideology of the previous government.
Vultures by their nature rarely attack healthy animals, but will prey on the weak and sick
and thats exactly what the Coalition did.
So we shouldnt be too surprised about Michael Noonans love of vultures its a case of
birds of a feather flock together
1,700 homes promised a year ago not one

has been built
Irish Independent June 7,201
Some 1,706 homes were approved in May 2015. Another 134 were sanctioned the
following July, and 890 last January a total of 2,730 across 145 individual schemes.
The Irish Independent asked each local authority to provide an update on how the projects
were progressing. Three Kerry, Offaly and Wexford failed to respond. The data shows:
No social houses have been built by the local authorities from the 2,730 sanctioned as
long as a year ago.
Just 26 are under construction in Donegal, Tipperary and Louth. Louth County Council
said it expects 12 to be completed this month.
Architects and design teams are only now being appointed for many of the schemes. A
significant number have yet to proceed to planning.
Some units have been purchased Fingal has secured 44, Cork City another 28 and
Louth another eight. But some councils are only beginning to purchase homes now.
In some cases, including Cork and Galway, the number of units has been increased,
which has resulted in delays as projects must be redesigned.
Some other projects have also been cancelled or delayed.
In Longford, no work has started on 13 houses approved in Lanesborough last July. Trial
holes are being organised for the site, the council said.
A land swap is also being organised with the HSE in Meath to facilitate construction of 19
units in Summerhill, approved in May 2015.
In one case a 3.1m scheme of 20 units at Strandhill in Co Sligo construction work is
not expected to begin until November next year, 30 months after it was approved.
The minister said special teams would be sent into local authorities to drive delivery.
Last year, 72 social houses were built, and around 1,160 acquired.
David Walsh Released unconditionally by High Court

03/06/2016
David had spent 4 days in Cork Jail. David was convicted of criminal
contempt in Waterford Circuit Court when he insisted on representing
his sister who was up for repossession of her home.
David has done all those threatened with eviction a great service
Well Done to Waterford the HUB-IRELAND and Noel Brophy!
WOMAN LOSES HOME TO BANK AND HER BROTHER TO

PRISON
Press Release By THEHUB-IRELAND June 2, 2016
The Hub-Ireland DATE: 1-6-2016 PRESS QUERIES: info@thehub-ireland.com (enter
Press Query Subject line) Tel: 01 534 9118 (office hours)
WOMAN LOSES HOME TO BANK AND HER BROTHER TO PRISON At Waterford
Circuit Court on Monday, a woman lost her home and her brother was taken away to
prison after Judge Alice Doyle made a possession order in favour of the bank and held the
home-owners brother to be in contempt of court.
He was sentenced to two weeks in prison and escorted out of the courthouse by Garda
after voicing his objections to the proceedings in which the Judge had refused his sister the
right for him to represent her, as is allowable. The home-owner had intended to defend her
home because she believed she had an arguable case and wished to exercise her right to
due process. She wished to bring certain matters before the Judge for consideration before
any possession order would be given. However, she was unable to afford legal
representation and did not feel able to carry out the role of representing herself in such an
already stressful situation, where she would be up against the banks professional legal
team, including a barrister. In previous proceedings in the same case, but in front of a
Registrar, her brother had been allowed to represent his sister.
On Monday, she had signed a Power of Attorney for her brother to represent her again, but
Judge Doyle disallowed the request.
The Hub-Ireland, a voluntary group working to help distressed mortgage-holders, is
extremely concerned at how mortgage cases are being dealt with by the judicial system
generally and for the personal plight of the woman in this particular case, who has not only
lost her home without being able to present her defence, but has also had to watch her
brother being carried away to prison.

The Hub-Ireland is repeating its call for an end to the Evictions Courts. Its members have
been observing the workings of such courts throughout the country and have reported
many similar cases where home-owners, who could not afford to employ a legal team to
match the banks one, have their rights to justice severely compromised as a result. This is
wrong and it has to stop, said Byron Jenkins of The Hub-Ireland. Tonight there is a man
in prison and a woman faces eviction, having lost her home. This is a personal tragedy for
this family, but it also highlights all that is wrong about how the mortgage-crisis has been
dealt with. We again call on the government and all in the political system to act
immediately to put an end to the barbaric suffering being caused to good Irish people,
whose only mistake was to borrow to put a roof over their heads.
The Dil will break for summer holidays in a few weeks time, but it will be a long hot
summer for those facing eviction as a result of political inaction, said Jenkins.
The Hub-Ireland is a voluntary, self-help community organisation that offers free help,
support and information to homeowners who are in danger of eviction from their homes by
mortgage companies. It has launched a campaign to have the Evictions Courts abolished
and asks for the public to support the initiative. It invites anyone in mortgage distress to
contact them at info@thehub-ireland.com or phone 01 534 9118.
/ends press release
Please Note: The Hub-Ireland has a number of expert spokespersons who are available to
appear as panelists on radio and television programs dealing with the issues of mortgage
distress. They are also available to give interviews to print media. Please contact The HubIreland at info@thehub-ireland.com (enter Press Query in Subject line) or phone 01 534
9118 during office hours.
-
Brother of Woman Facing Repossession

JAILED FOR TWO WEEKS FOR
CONTEMPT in Waterford Circuit Court
SHOCKING INHUMANITY OF EVICTION SYSTEM
He Had Been Prevented From Speaking on Behalf of his sister in Court
though she had given him her Power of Attorney
Waterford The Hub-Ireland
In Waterford court today a man who had been given power of attorney by his sister was
denied by justice Doyle the right to speak on behalf of his sister in opposing the
repossession of her home. When the man Questioned the Judge he was put in contempt of
court. Another man questioned her decision also. He was also put in contempt. Later both
were questioned by garda and brought back into court. The brother was jailed for two
weeks
Earlier,he had handed to the judge the document stating that he had been given power of
attorney by his sister. The judge left the bench for 10min and came back with a decision
that he could not speak for her in court. She wouldnt allow him question her jurisdiction
in the matter. She put him in contempt and later jailed him for two weeks
He had repressented his sister 2 months earlier on the same matter in front of a different
judge who had agreed to this procedure
Further Post on Facebook By HUB-Ireland
(A male young man appeared in court to swear the affidavit on behalf of the bank. The
signature on the affidavit was that of a woman!!!-PH)
WANTED:
We need the ID of this child: this is the young man that came to court yesterday as a
competent witness for the Banks: he was never sworn in / or gave his name; the only
words he uttered from the back of the courtroom was Yes, after Judge Alice Doyle had
asked did you sign the affidavit for the Banks.
Funny that:: the deponent of the Affidavit was in fact a woman, so how come??
The Judge then replied; thats good enough for me and granted a possession Order on a
Family Home and Jailed the Brother for two weeks for contempt for wishing to represent
his sister.

The two hooded balaclava wearing individuals entering the Garda Squad Car are not
prisoners!
They are employees of a security company leaving the scene having failed to evict a
householder in Co Clare recently
Stop Evictions Picket on Ennis Banks

DISAPPOINTMENT OVER CLARES TDS FAIURE
TO ATTEND DEMONSTRATION AT ENNIS BANKS
Clare FM 30 May, 2016
Clares Oireachtas representatives are being condemned for their failure to attend a
demonstration outside Ennis banks this morning.
Groups led by Midwest Right2Change launched the picket in protest at the repossession of
houses by financial institiutions, as well as the ongoing housing crisis.
As the sun shone down on Ennis town centre this morning, groups picketing the towns
three main banks say the situation isnt so bright for many people facing homlessneess
across the county.
Todays protest, organised by Right2Change, began outside Ulster Bank in the Height and
from there moved on to AIB and then onto Bank of Ireland.
A small group of public representatives and locals highlighted their concerns following a
recent high-profile attempted eviction in Corofin.
One of them, Anti-Austerity Campaigner Niamh OBrien says something needs to be done
to stop banks from reposessing homes.
Protestors hit out at Clares Oireachtas representatives for failing to attend today.
Shannon Sinn Fin Counillor Mike Mc Kee says they need to put pressure on the
Government to deal with the housing crisis.
Limerick City TD Maurice Quinlivan, who represents part of Clare also attended todays
protest.
The Sinn Fin representative is a member of the Dil Homeless and Housing Committee
and he says an adequate Mortgage to rent scheme would help ease the crisis for some
families.
Noonan feeds the vulnerable to the

vultures
Rather than Minister Noonan giving the unfortunate mortgage defaulter a break, hes
been fraternising with their enemy
Carol Hunt, Sunday Independent, 29/05/2016
1Support: Michael Noonan will be happy with evictions Photo: Tom Burke
The video footage is shocking. It shows a number of men, hooded, black scarves covering
their faces, attempting to gain access to a private home. To even the most trusting of
observers, they dont look as if they can be up to any good.
Beside them, the car they allegedly drove up in and which we will see them later drive
off in has no insurance or tax disc displayed and the registration number is covered over
with tape. This is undoubtedly illegal.
Local men confront them, clearly agitated. Thankfully, there are gardai present and the
traffic violations are quickly pointed out to them.
Except that, as the video footage unfolds, it becomes disturbingly clear that the gardai have
no intention of noting these offences, that they are there purely to assist the hooded men in
gaining access to the house. They are on the side of what looks like the bad guys.
Welcome to a modern-day Irish eviction. (There was a doubling in the number of
properties repossessed by mortgage lenders in Ireland between 2010 and 2013, new
research has found.)
This time it fails. The heavy gang leave in their car which still lacks a visible registration
number. This time there was no paperwork which allowed them to legally enter the
property but if members of the Anti-Eviction Taskforce had not been present to
vociferously, but peacefully, protest, yet another family would have found themselves
homeless by nightfall.
Well, thats what happens isnt it? When you cant pay your debts, when you fall behind on
your mortgage, when the bank lent you money with no questions or queries beyond how
much? and sure, would you not like a few thousand more? But now, kiddo, its payback
time.
Well, for some people it is anyway. But we know a few things now that we didnt know
back in 2007. We know, courtesy of Ajai Chopra, that the EU issued an ultimatum to
Ireland at the time of the bailout. We know that the ECB would not allow us to burn senior
bondholders. We know that we are still paying billions in interest because of this
unfortunate mistake.
We know this week, thanks to NTMA chief executive Conor OKelly, that every worker in
the country pays an extra 3,400 in tax every year compared with just 900 in 2007. We
know we were taken for a ride by banks, the bondholders, and the head honchos in Europe
as well as our own crowd. And we know, as OKelly said, that our State debt pile of
207bn, 102,000 per employee, is easily the highest in Europe, by a mile. To be clear
he added: Its one of the highest ratios in the world.
Which may explain why so many people are finding it so difficult to service 2007
mortgages with 2016 wages (thats if theyre still lucky enough to be working).
Half the bloody economy is going into a black hole of debt repayments. The average Irish
worker took the hit for all those bondholders and bankers who were allowed play financial
roulette with no consequences to themselves if they lost everything.
Youd think the Government would feel a little bit sheepish about that now, wouldnt you?
Youd presume that they would go a bit easy on Joe and Josephine Soap who were
unfortunate enough to need a mortgage when prices were beyond the moon and the banks
were happy to feed the insanity? And youd certainly think that, in light of our enormous
State debt (remember, the highest in Europe, by a mile!) Michael Noonan would still be
in the market for a bit of debt forgiveness from the EU or IMF.
Youd think, maybe theyd listen to people like those in the Anti-Eviction Taskforce, The
Phoenix Project, Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, The Hub and all those other groups
working at the coalface of people who are in despair at the prospect of losing their homes,
and maybe ask the banks to share a bit of the risk, the cost, the fallout?
But no, seemingly everything is going swimmingly in Noonan Land, because earlier this
month he said we didnt need any deals on debt, because were in a pretty good place
now.
Which will come as news to the hundreds of thousands of people in the country in
mortgage distress particularly if their mortgages have been sold on to vulture funds at
cheap prices not offered to them terrified to answer their doors in case its the bailiff with
a crowd of hooded men and a few gardai backing them up.
It will also come as news to people like Fr Peter McVerry, whose Trust last Friday
appealed to the Government to do more for people at risk of becoming homeless and
particularly the dangers that the vulture funds bring with them.
Michael Noonan is a fan, seemingly. Of vulture funds. I know, thats hard to believe, but
then some people have hard necks. They can afford to.
Fine Gael TD Catherine Byrne got terribly upset when David Hall, of Irish Mortgage
Holders Organisation (IMHO), called Mr Noonan a vulture [fund] lover at an Oireachtas
Housing and Homelessness committee meeting recently.
After a face-to-face meeting with the minister, Hall said: He was very clear about his
love for vultures. We had a very robust exchange in relation to it the self-confessed
predators. They circulate for five years, they suck an asset dry and they move on.
Last week Ulster Bank announced that it would be selling over 2,900 of its customers
mortgages to vulture funds.
Of those, 900 are family homes, the others, one presumes, are rental properties. (Most
evictions in Ireland actually arise when people cant pay escalating rents, as opposed to
mortgages.)
According to the recent report by the Debt and Development Coalition Ireland (DDCI) our
Government wholeheartedly embraced vulture funds, which pretty much tells you
everything you need to know about their attitude to Joe or Josephine mortgage problems.
Or families like my friend Danielles, who have just been given a few months to leave the
home they have rented for 10 years.
Their landlord is sorry, but the mortgage has been sold on to vulture funds and all he can
do is commiserate and say that they were exemplary tenants.
Like many other families in similar situations, they havent a hope of finding affordable
accommodation near their jobs and childrens schools.
An EU-wide report headed up by NUIG academic Padraig McKenna also found that there
were relatively high numbers of evictions (including illegal evictions) in the [Irish] private
rented sector. According to the DDCI report, the arrival of vulture funds means an
increased likelihood of people being evicted from their homes.
Well, duh as my kids would say; it shouldnt take an academic report to deduce that.
The people evicted will probably end up in hotels at the States expense but hey, the
vulture funds and Minister Noonan is happy so thats all right so.
Groups like the Anti-Eviction Taskforce look set to have their work cut out for them in the
immediate future.
Welcome to the new politics, and old-style land repossessions.
KEN SMOLLEN, THE HUB IRELAND BRIEF

DEPUTIES AND SENATORS AT LEINSTER HOUSE
AT INVITATION OF SEAMUS HEALY TD
CALL FOR STOP TO EVICTION PROCEEDINGS IN COURT,
FORMAL DECLARATION OF NATIONAL HOUSING
EMERGENCY BY DAIL
REPORT ON BRIEFING BY KEN SMOLLEN 18/05/2016
This evening is probably not a good time to write a report on todays meeting with TDs,
Senators and their representatives in Leinster House as I usually need a day to fully
analyse any event or meeting.
However, it was an absolute pleasure to meet what I would describe as three very likeminded people, namely Byron, Adrienne and Martina in The Hub office in Dublin before
heading off to Leinster House. Adrienne had the job of looking after callers to The Hub
while Byron, Martina and I went to the meeting where we first met Seamus Healy TD and
his brother Paddy. We had a cup of coffee in the caf there while discussing the approach
we would be making when presenting our case on behalf of thousands of people who find
that they are the totally innocent victims of the bailed out banks who want to legally
steal their family homes!
There were approx. 20 TDs present at different stages during our presentation including
the following Sean Crowe, Eugene Murphy, Pat Buckley, Thomas Pringle, Dara
Calleary, Martin Ferris, Sean Fleming, Carol Nolan, Ann Rabbitte, Eoin OBroin and
others. Represented were Richard Boyd Barrett and Joan Collins. Needless to say no
representative from either Fine Gael or the Labour Party was there. It surprised me that
not one representative of the Independent Alliance made the effort either as all TDs were
invited there by Seamus Healy TD and by myself.
I began the presentation by describing to those present what actually happens in the
Eviction Courts and how people are being treated in a shameful way in particular by
County Registrars. I described the intimidating atmosphere in these places and the
absolute horror, despair and desperation that I see on a regular basis in these awful places.
I also informed them that during the month of May alone there are well over 2,000
Eviction cases listed in the courts throughout the country and with an average of 3 or 4
members of each household it would be the equivalent of the population of a large town
being hauled before the Eviction courts and thats just this month alone. I also
impressed on them that not only are there approx. 100,000 families in mortgage distress
but that there could be a further 200,000 families going without some of the basic
necessities just to pay their mortgages and that many of these people were also slipping
into mortgage distress. Again I said that with an average of 3 to 4 people per household
we are looking at over ONE MILLION people in Ireland being in this awful situation with
no resolution in sight.
I then explained how the banks were refusing to engage with many mortgage holders in
any way even though the banks claim that its the other way around. I also said to them
that the Government must FORCE the banks to engage fairly with mortgage holders and
that a fair and sustainable solution must be found for ALL mortgage holders before there
would be any recovery for the people of Ireland.
Martina then spoke about and gave an excellent presentation on the Land &
Conveyancing (Law Reform) Act of 2013 [The EVICTION Act] and explained how it
must be repealed as it gives the bailed out banks easier access to repossessing family
homes.
Byron then gave an exception explanation of how The Hub-Ireland is helping families
every day for FREE and also urged those present the need for an urgent solution to this
desperate crisis.
The politicians who were present then made their own contributions with all of them
agreeing that a real recovery for the people of Ireland could only take place once the
people of Ireland were treated fairly by the banks. They were all in agreement that they
must act in the best interests of the people that they represent.
Our next step with the help of Seamus Healy is to gain an invitation to make a submission
to the housing committee where we can again impress on them the necessity for two
things 1) The urgent need for a STOP to be put on EVICTION Court proceedings in the
courts while the banks are forced to find a fair and sustainable solution for all mortgage
holders and 2) To have an official EMERGENCY declared in relation to this crisis. Such a
declaration would put a stop to Michael Noonans nonsense about the Government being
unable to interfere in private property transactions.
All in all it was a very good day and Im sure that by keeping the pressure on these people
we can achieve real change for the better, not only keeping families in their homes but in
the process, saving many lives.
I was not expecting to see Fine Gaels representative from Offaly there as she was one of
those who unashamedly voted YES for the Eviction Bill and because there werent any
photo opportunities for her to take advantage of. I am however extremely disappointed
with the non-appearance of the Fianna Fail TD for Offaly. When the meeting was over he
walked as we were talking outside the meeting room, he looked and grinned, as much as
to say Who let those peasants into this important place.
Finally, I would like to thank Paddy Healy and his brother Seamus for arranging this first
meeting and I have absolutely no doubt that we will now gain the support of other TDs in
our justified fight for fairness for thousands of our people. With the help of these good
men we certainly hope to receive an invitation to make a submission to the housing
committee.
KEEP SUNDAY 19th JUNE FREE 1.30pm in the Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise
EVERYONE WELCOME!
Thanks everyone,
Ken
Claire Byrne Live on Housing and Homelessness

http://www.rte.ie//sh/claire-byrne-live30003252/10576915/
Listen to First 30 minutes on Housing and Homelessness
Housing is national emergency says Simon

Coveney, Minister for Housing
Why does he not formally lay a certificate to this effect before the Dil?
Because then there would be no constitutional prohibition to stopping evictions and
compusorily purchasing the property of vulture capitalists in order to ease the housing
crisis
-
Why Cant State Just Borrow 10 billion at very low

interest rates to begin Building 50,000 publicly owned
houses immediately as advocated by David McWilliams
Below? He claims the loan would be self-financing at
much lower than current rents!
ANSWER? HINT -Read the provisions of the Fiscal Treaty!
David McWilliams IRISH INDEPENDENT 11/05/2016
Easy for the State to Build 50,000 houses ??

Lets examine how the State could involve itself in financing a housing trust using the
international financial markets to massively reduce housing costs in Ireland.
Currently, the markets will finance any good opportunity. When interest rates are zero, the
obvious thing to do is borrow for infrastructural projects and housing is the most
significant infrastructural development that one can think of right now.
Lets look at the numbers.
Builders will tell you that building costs are around 120/130 a square foot. For a large
scheme, this could be lower and could move towards 100.
Now lets say that the average unit in Dublin or any urban centre in Ireland is 1,400 square
feet. This means that the average building cost of a house/apartment of this size is
140,000. Add to this VAT of 13.5pc and we get 158,200.
Now on top of this there are professional fees for architects and surveyors and the like.
These could be 12pc of the contract price plus 23pc VAT. So this is close to 19,000 on
top of this price, bringing the 140,000 initial cost, up with all the fees and taxes to around
166,000.
Then on top of this are development levies which are the costs per unit that are added by
the council to pay for new roads, water pipes and sewage. These are typically 9,000 per
unit. So we are now up to 175,000 per unit.
Now we have the cost of the build with all the charges and taxes before we talk about site
cost.
In 2011, Dublin probably had enough houses to deal with the population. However, there
should have been 60,000 built since to keep up with population growth but only 8,000
have been built, so we have a shortfall of around 50,000 for the sake of argument.
Imagine the State was to build or fund the build of 50,000 houses. At 175,000 each, this
would cost 8.7bn. This is a big number but the Irish State can borrow for 10 years at 1pc,
according to Bloomberg yesterday. Therefore, the State could issue a Housing Executive
Bond, which it could sell to Irish residents who are sitting on 94bn of deposits in the
Irish banking system. Servicing this debt would cost 87m per year.
Traditionally, countries dont pay back the principal of their national debts, they simply
roll it over.
So it would be prudent to suggest that we would do the same for this Housing Executive
Bond.
Now we have a situation where the total annual cost of 50,000 units is 87m. This means
that the annual cost per unit is 1,740. The implication is the rent that would be needed to
be charged per unit per year to pay the cost of this build, funded by a Housing Executive
Bond, is 1,740 per year. Lets round this up to 2,000 per unit per year, to include
maintenance.
So total rental cost of a new house or apartment is not 12,000 per annum, as is the case
right now, but 2,000 per annum or 38 a week.
This is feasible. You have seen the numbers. The major cost omitted is the site cost and
this is where we come into the land issue.
At a density of 60 units per hectare, this would mean about 833 hectares of development
land, or about 2,000 acres, is needed. There are 28,000 acres in Dublin in total but just one
bank, Ulster Bank, put a portfolio of 1,850 acres of development land up for sale this year.
So the development land portfolio of just one bank could almost cover this total city
requirement! Now we are talking.
The State could simply CPO this land at cost and be done with it. You could add the
repayment cost of this land to the annual rent. This would bring up the annual cost of the
rent needed to cover everything to 3,000 per year or a quarter of present average rent
paid.
Thus, the great Irish housing crisis is solved for less than 60 per week for a family of
four in return for a new house, fixity of tenure and peace of mind!
Thats how its done in proper countries. The choice is ours.
Lets join the 21st century and stop gouging each other for the basic right of a roof over
our heads.
Unlike the lads on the Magic Bus, these are the numbers, no one is smoking funny stuff,
just seeing things clearly through the haze of vested interests and inertia.
Problem solved.
Organised by former garda Ken Smollen,

this is yet another meeting attended by
many groups who are at the coalface of the
mortgage crisis. And a crisis it is
PUBLISHED08/05/2016 | 02:30 Sunday Independent
Vulture funds circle as mortgage crisis exacts its toll of suffering
Thousands of homeowners left at the mercy of the banks

bear a burden of daily fear and uncertainty, with many
contemplating suicide, and some acting on those feelings,

writes Carol Hunt
My name is Sandy and I am in mortgage distress, says a woman at the back of the room.
She clears her throat and continues: It was my little secret, because I told nobody, I was
too ashamed. My friends didnt know, my family didnt know. I felt I had failed and I had
made a huge mistake. She pauses, I catch her eye and then look away, embarrassed.
Were in the Hotel Killeshin Portlaoise. There are over 300 angry, frustrated and emotional
people here all united by a common goal of stopping the evictions.
Organised by former garda Ken Smollen, this is yet another meeting attended by many
groups who are at the coalface of the mortgage crisis. And a crisis it is.
According to Smollen, as well as the 100,000 mortgages currently in distress, there are
another 200,000 in danger of slipping into difficulty.
Plus, there are many small businesses and farms on the brink of insolvency. Extrapolate
that to include families and that is over a million people affected, he says.
These are not accidental landlords or developers rescued by Nama. These are people who
cannot pay back Celtic Tiger-size mortgages in a post-crash economy. Consequently, they
are faced with eviction by their banks and, increasingly, by vulture funds.
They are ordinary people, most of whom have never asked for anything or fallen into debt
before and they are shocked and sickened at the sudden realisation that they may find
themselves homeless.
These are the people for whom debt is seen as a sacred obligation, a moral duty.
If they dont pay what they owe, the economy as we know it will collapse and moral
hazard will ensue.
Or so we are told.
So why isnt mortgage debt front-page news? Why isnt it an issue garnering the same
attention as those damned water charges? Shame, is the simple answer. People are
sometimes quite literally dying of shame at the thought that their friends and neighbours
will find out their dirty little secret.
Sandy wasnt given the option of choosing to get her problem off her chest by sharing it
with others in the same situation. She didnt decide that she was going to be brave and
f**k the begrudgers.
She had been outed by her local newspaper, who put details of her indebtedness on the
front page.
Its obvious that the indignity and disgrace she feels still rankle.
People will be too ashamed to come out and protest, she insists. But there were some
who disagreed with her.
One elderly man stands up and admits: The only wish myself and my wife have is that we
can die in our own home Am I suicidal? he asks us as he clings to the microphone.
Yes, I am, he answers bluntly. Its a companion of mine. Every morning I wake up and
think of it.
He looks around at the sea of emotionally distressed faces. We need to tell our stories, he
insists. There are so many, many people in similar situations. We need empathy we
need a hug. We need to work with everyone, but, he warns with the tired voice of a man
who has seen much betrayal and hurt, put your faith in no one.
Ciaran Doyle explained that his mortgage was sold to vulture funds without his
knowledge. Smollen recalls how one woman said she would rather set fire to my house
and set myself alight in it than hand it over to the moneylenders.
Martina Doyle from The Hub Ireland (a voluntary organisation which helps people in
mortgage distress) explains how the Land and Conveyancing Reform Act 2013, which
gave clarity and comfort to the banks, has led to the so-called eviction courts and
needs to be immediately repealed.
Her organisation gets phone calls of desperation from a mother or father panic-stricken as
to where they are going to go, the single person who feels they have no rights, as they are
on their own, the elderly couple who are frightened to death of the knock at the door that
will drag them out in front of their neighbours.
Examples are given of how the eviction courts can intimidate such vulnerable people
most of whom are totally unused to courts of any kind.
There is a huge misconception in the public arena that these people just dont want to pay
their mortgages and are freeloaders.
Anyone who thinks that, she says, just needs to come to The Hub for just one day and
listen to the calls we take.
But still these people, in despair and anguish, are told, a debt is a debt is a debt. They
borrowed money from a bank and they are therefore legally and morally bound to pay it
back. Unlike say, the well-heeled speculators who found themselves in Nama.
Earlier this month, it was revealed by Michael Noonan that Nama has written off debts
totalling 1.5bn owed by just 80 debtors to the agency.
Noonan explained that the debt is only written off where all of the underlying assets have
been realised, there are no further assets to be realised nor any additional recourse
available to Nama to recover borrowings from the debtor.
Which is the same situation that would apply to most of the ordinary people in
unsustainable mortgage debt that I have met up and down the country. And yet it doesnt.
Why one rule for one group and a much harsher one for the other?
Because, bluntly, when debt is racked up by governments, corporations, banks, or by
privileged insiders, it can always be renegotiated or written off. Thats how the system
works. Its only when debts are owed from the poor to the rich that issues such as moral
hazard are introduced.
Only then does debt become a sacred obligation. Its a way of keeping the cash/power
flowing upwards. Its also a way of keeping people in their assigned places.
In the past, precautions were taken to protect debtors from unscrupulous lenders. Yet today
it is creditors who are protected at the expense of debtors, corporations at the expense of
citizens, banks at the expense of nations.
Theres no political will to solve this issue, said one man at the Killeshin Hotel last
week. Because there are no votes in it. Unlike the water charges, people are too ashamed
to protest.
He may be right. An invitation was issued to every TD and senator in Leinster House. Five
attended none from the last government parties. We know that people are going to die
[due to debt] he added.
Another man spoke passionately and bitterly of debt-related suicides occurring daily as he
urged people to act now before there are further deaths.
You may think this is emotionally charged exaggeration, but a recent survey by the Irish
Mortgage Holders Organisation (IMHO) found that of 488 people aged between 29-70
who are in debt (questioned by clinical psychologist Dr Eddie Murphy), 44pc said they felt
depressed all or most of the time; 31pc have had suicidal thoughts in the past four weeks;
22pc had active plans to kill themselves and 45pc indicated harmful levels of alcohol
abuse.
Now, just think of the thousands of people in mortgage distress in this country and you can
begin to imagine the depth of human suffering in our midst.
So what can we do? This week, we heard promises about putting pressure on banks to offer
sustainable solutions to those in mortgage distress and there are suggestions for a new
court to deal with arrears; but, judging by the numbers at risk and the distress involved,
this will not suffice.
Certainly we need people to be offered split mortgages, term extensions and long-term
interest rate reductions.
But for many families, what is needed is debt-forgiveness. And quickly. But the banks
who brought the country to its knees through their reckless lending and were rewarded for
doing so with billions of our euro wont play ball.
They are so confident of their power that they are currently swindling variable-rate
mortgage-holders with high interest rates.
They are selling off homes to vulture funds at a cost not offered to the now homeless
occupiers. They are doing pretty much as they please.
The new Government is making noises about putting manners on them. But for many
families in mortgage distress, it may already be too late.
@carolmhunt
The Hub Ireland: http://www.thehub-ireland.com/ Phone: 01 534 9118
IMHO https://www.mortgageholders.ie/contact/
Phoenix Project Ireland 1850203040
Samaritans 116 123.
Aware 1800 80 48 48.
Pieta House 01 601 0000
Sunday Independent
-
NO COMITTMENT TO STOP EVICTIONS IN FF-FG

DEAL FOR GOVERNMENT
Protect the family home and introduce additional long term solutions for mortgage
arrears cases.
This is so vague that it could mean nothing.
There is no comittment to declaring a housing emergency
FF-FG DEAL on Minority Government

Securing Affordable Homes and Tackling Homelessness
Significantly increase and expedite the delivery of social housing units, remove barriers
to private housing supply and initiate an affordable housing scheme
Retain mortgage interest relief beyond the current end date of December 2017 on a
tapered basis.
Increase rent supplement and Housing Assistance payment (HAP) limits by up to 15%
taking account of geographic variations in market rents, and extend the roll out by local
authorities of the HAP, including the capacity to make discretionary enhanced payments.
Protect the family home and introduce additional long term solutions for mortgage
arrears cases.
Improve supports and services for older people to live independently in their own home,
including a provision for pension increases.
Provide greater protection for mortgage holders, tenants and SMEs whose loans have
been transferred to non-regulated entities (vulture funds).
GREAT ANTI_EVICTION MEETING Took Place Saturday, April 30 IN PORT
LAOISE
MEETING HAS GIVEN FG-FF 6 weeks to END EVICTIONS Listen at Links Below
Port Laoise Anti-Eviction Meeting-Proceedings Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYkC_QrkZZo
Port Laoise Anti-Eviction Meeting-Proceedings Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX_2e8dPQLw&feature=youtu.be
Arrival of Vulture funds set to fuel

evictions, report reveals
Irish Times Colm Keena
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 3, 2016, 01:00
The arrival of vulture funds in the Irish property market means an increased likelihood
of people being evicted from their homes, according to a report published today.
The funds that have bought into the Irish commercial and residential property market,
mostly by way of buying loans from State-owned institutions, will want to see big yields
on their investments, which in practice means squeezing debtors hard.
The report entitled, From Puerto Rico to the Dublin Docklands, Vulture Funds and Debt in
Ireland and the Global South, by the Debt and Development Coalition Ireland (DDCI),
said that while there is little research yet available on the effect of vulture fund
involvement in the European property market, research from the US indicates an increased
likelihood of people being thrown out of their homes.
DDCI is a coalition of Irish development, faith-based and solidarity groups concerned
about the effects of debt on developing countries. It is chaired by Sorley McCaughey,
advocacy and policy officer with Christian Aid. The report was written by Dr Michael
Byrne of the UCD School of Social Justice.
Distressed debt
Hedge funds or private equity funds that invest in distressed debt vulture funds
originally invested in sovereign debt but since the financial crisis in 2008 have moved into
buying loans linked to the property market in the US and Europe.
The Irish Government, according to the report, has wholeheartedly embraced vulture
funds and their entry into the Irish market could not have occurred were it not for two
major public banking institutions, the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), and
the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).
Nama is the public entity that acted as Irelands bad bank for property loans issued by Irish
banks, while the IBRC, which is now in liquidation, took over the collapsed Anglo Irish
Bank and Irish Nationwide.
Locals priced out
The report says that these two institutions sold assets under time pressure and did so at
high discounts. Because the loans were sold in large bundles or portfolios, local
investors were priced out. The two institutions sell big, they sell quick, and they sell
cheap, according to the report.
This created a context which not only favoured vulture funds, in a sense it meant that only
vulture funds had the financial fire power required to play this extremely high stakes
game. The fact that the Irish financial system is in crisis means it was very hard or
impossible for domestic actors to obtain credit to invest in Irish real estate.
The creation of a direct link between Irish property and the international financial system,
via the vulture funds, exposes the Irish economy and society to the possibility of sharp
shocks caused by events very much outside the control of the Irish political or regulatory
system, according to the report.
Global vulture funds, most of them US-based, are snapping up distressed debt linked to
European property, most especially in the UK, Ireland and Spain. Global groups such as
Cerberus, Lone Star Capital, and Blackstone, are among the top investors here.
2016 irishtimes.com
Irish Times Report and Full Dail Record of Noonan

Reply to Seamus Healy TDs Call to STOP
REPOSSESSIONS Further Down
July only!
Q1
314, Q2 586, Q3 188
day.
dispersed.
state owned banks.
decisions
Irish families!
doing so!
Dail Record Jan 14/2016 Home Repossession

Parliamentary Question from Seamus Healy TD to Minister for Finance
Ml. Noonan
3. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for Finance if he will insist that
Allied Irish Bank and its subsidiary the Educational Building Society and Permanent
TSB, which are in majority State ownership, desist from seeking repossession of
family homes through the Courts and withdraw all such existing applications before
the Courts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1426/16]
immediately.
banks

refusal
Marie OHalloran
was 86.6 per cent.
mortgages.
were voluntary.

which exists.
Finance
for the whole country for Quarter 3,2015 as representative of the scale of the problem.
COURTS ONLY SIT FOR 1 OF THE 3 MONTHS IN QUARTER 3!! The Court
Service Figures for the whole country for Quarters 1 and 2 are 586 and 314 respectively.
withdrawn.
This can be done by government decision and does not require legislation.
Seamus Healy T.D.
18/01/2016
Tel 087 2802199

Dail Record of Reply by Michael Noonan to Seamus Healy TD on Repossessions (Jan 14)
is carried below together with article by Kitty Holland and other material from the Courts
Service
Homelessness is an Emergency-Minister
BUT GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO EVICT FAMILIES THROUGH BANKS IT
OWNS
293 families and aprox 600 children have become

homeless in the first 3 months of this year in Dublin
Alone
From FOCUS IRELAND

85 families became newly homeless in Dublin in March and were referred to our family
services.
These latest figures mean that 293 families and aprox 600 children have become
homeless in the first 3 months of this year alone in the capital.
These latest figures come following a record total of 125 families became homeless in Jan
and 83 in Feb this year in Dublin.
The number of families and children in homeless emergency accommodation at a national
level at a point in time as of the end of February has shot up by a staggering 112% in the
last year from 429 families with 938 children in Feb 2015 to a current total of 912
families & 1881 children.
These shocking new figures come just ahead of the Dail sitting today and there is also a
joint Meeting of the Cross Departmental Team on Homelessness and the National
Homelessness Consultative Committee.
We are very worried that despite all the talk about homelessness the caretaker
Government has taken no new actions to tackle this worsening crisis since the Dail first sat
over a month ago on March 10th.
Tackling the housing and homeless crisis must be at the heart of any new Programme For
Government, and we previously issued a five point plan setting out the key elements which
should inform such a programme. These demands include calling for a cast iron
commitment to end family homelessness with a firm target date to achieve this and also a
commitment to build 40,000 social homes over the next 5 years.
We must remember that while the horse-trading to form the new government is taking
place more than 3 families have become homeless every single day so far this year.
Todays joint meeting is a positive development to discuss some pressing issues. However,
it is important to stress that there are a range of measures which can be put in place while
we wait for the new government to be formed to ensure that they are not starting from
scratch on putting together a plan to tackle the housing and homeless crisis.
Some of these urgent actions Focus Ireland is calling for include:
Firm action to provide greater security for tenants in buy-to-let properties as 27,492 of
these properties are more than 90 days in arrears. The Dail can easily fast-track
amendments to current legislation to provide this vital protection for tenants as we wait for
a new government to be formed.
Taking action to raise rent supplement so it reflects market rents as this will help to keep
families and individuals in their current homes and prevent them from becoming homeless.
To confirm what action is required to ensure NAMA delivers more social housing.
You can read more about this here:
http://bit.ly/300familieshomeless
-
HOMELESSNESS UP 50% AS SOUTH

DUBLIN CO COUNCIL DECLARES
HOUSING EMERGENCY
The number of people accessing emergency shelters across the State was up
by almost 50 per cent in February, compared to the same month last year,
according to the latest figures on homelessness.
The figures, from the Department of the Environment, show there were 5,881
people in emergency accommodation in February, which represents a yearon-year increase of 49 per cent. Among them were 1,881 children, which
represents an increase of 101 per cent.
Simon Communities of Ireland spokeswoman Niamh Randall said the figures
were shocking and demonstrate that existing measures to tackle
homelessness are failing.-Irish Times 14/04/2016
Open letter to Alan Kelly Dont blame
the housing crisis on the Constitution

Edmund Honohan
Master of the High Court
PUBLISHED03/04/2016 | 02:30
Sunday Indepenent
In an open letter to Alan Kelly, the environment minister, the Master of the High Court
Edmund Honohan says the Constitution cannot be used as cover for political inaction on
the housing crisis
Dear Minister Kelly,
It is appropriate that you have, in this centenary year, called for a debate about property
rights in the Constitution. Faced with repeated assertions about how the right to property is
legally watertight, politicians need to recover control which they have ceded to the
lawyers. To do so they need to understand that the position is a lot clearer than they have
been led to believe.
Echoes of 1916: The Constitution in effect provides that the State may expropriate private
property if the Oireachtas decides that to do so is for the common good. Road widening
is a good example.
Option A. At the moment there are long waiting lists for housing and the private rental
market is unable to provide dwellings at affordable rents.
Consequently, if the Oireachtas is of the view that the State should itself (or its local
authorities) provide public housing in the Common Good, the State can (and probably,
legally, should) decide not to wait the two/three years needed to build social housing but
instead to immediately acquire houses now in private hands.
If the owners of these refuse to sell, acquisition can be by compulsory purchase with full
compensation assessed by the arbitrator.
It so happens that there is a stock of such housing which has recently been bought by
vulture property investment funds from Anglo, Irish Nationwide, Nama etc. at
knockdown prices. Compensation for these funds would be that they would be repaid the
price they paid for the housing portfolios. That is the extent of their Constitutional
entitlement.
Option B. On the other hand, the Oireachtas might be concerned to enhance tenants rights
at the expense of the landlords. Rent controls and the like are also a form of expropriation
if their effect is to rewrite contracts already operational. And the common good rationale
for such interference with contracts is not as clearly unarguable as with Option A.
Option A wins hands down and the timing is right.
Cue now the lawyers alternative analysis: that the Constitution enshrines marketplace
rules; that the Supreme Court will determine what is the Common Good. Publish the
Attorney Generals advice to the Government and have a fully informed debate.
But given that the Supreme Court has already decided, in 2000, that the provision of
affordable housing is an objective which is socially just and required by the common
good, what we do about it now is a political decision, not a legal one.
The Constitution cannot be used as cover for political inaction.
Sunday Independent
Dail Debate: Government Knowingly and Deliberately Causing HomelessnessSeamus Healy TD
Deputy Seamus Healy: The outgoing Government, knowingly and deliberately, created
and caused homelessness. I say this because the State owns Allied Irish Banks, Permanent
TSB and the Educational Building Society. The Minister and current caretaker
Administration are allowing these financial institutions to evict people from their homes.
They can stop such evictions by telling the banks to stop causing homelessness. No
legislation is required to do so because the Government, through the Ministers for the
Environment, Community and Local Government and Finance, could issue a simple
directive to stop financial institutions from making people homeless.
The National Asset Management Agency which is owned by the State is creating
homelessness by evicting people and selling residences and apartments to vulture funds
that are engaging in evictions. The State could also stop this practice by issuing a simple
instruction to NAMA. I reiterate that the State is deliberately creating homelessness and
should stop doing so immediately.
I will refer briefly to the Tnaistes reference to the housing assistance payment. The HAP
scheme is an outrageous rip-off of tenants, most, if not all, of whom must pay differential
rent to their local authority and a top-up to their landlord, which is often as much as 50
per week. The scheme should be stopped immediately.
If we are to address the homelessness and housing crisis, the Government and the new Dil
must declare a housing emergency immediately. Otherwise, we will not be able to deal
with the problem. The Government should also take up the offer made by the credit unions
to provide between 5 billion and 8 billion to help address the housing problem.
Deputy Mick Barry: I agree with the points made by Deputy Seamus Healy. I will make
several points about the scandal that recently unfolded on the Eden estate in Blackrock in
Cork city where tenants in 35 apartments received letters earlier this year terminating their
leases and giving notice to quit. Many of them had lived in the properties in question for
years. The letters were issued by Grant Thornton, the receiver in charge of 127 apartments
on the estate, which was appointed by the State-owned IBRC in November 2010. This is
the latest chapter in the saga of Anglo Irish Bank and the Irish Nationwide Building
Society.
KPMG has been the Government appointed liquidator of IBRC since January 2013. As
instructed by the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government, the liquidators only interest is in
maximising the financial return to the State from the carcases of Anglo Irish Bank and the
Irish Nationwide Building Society and it has no regard for the social impact of doing so. In
this sense, it is an even more heartless and anti-social arm of the State than NAMA.
As of January 2016, IBRC had netted 2.1 billion from sales such as those envisaged on
the Eden estate. This sum has not been used to address the housing crisis because most of
it has been ring-fenced for distribution among IBRCs creditors which include Anglo Irish
Bank subordinated bondholders. Some of the money is intended to be used for payment in
full of certain employee and pension claims prior to the date of liquidation. Does this
include pension payments to former members of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide
Building Society management such as Mr. David Drumm and Mr. Michael Fingleton?
NAMA (Really the Minister for Finance) Worsening Crisis Through Sale of Homes to
Vulture Funds.
Government also evicting Families through Banks it Owns
McPeake Auctioneers (Tyrellstown in Irish Times March 16)
The supply into the market from the builders is much lower than the market needs, and
that is because of a number of reasons.
The first is that the control of sites into the market is being controlled by a much smaller
pool of players. The big developers who were there all ended up in Nama or a financial
institution.
The financial institutions have all now basically all sold off their loans and Nama is
selling off the balance. All of those loans have gone basically to these venture capital
funds.
Its a problem thats been created, in particular, Namas desire to do away with
Nama, to be able to say Namas now gone, isnt that great, but what youve really
done is transferred the whole stock of development land and a considerable number
of private residential properties, that may be rented or may not be rented, into the
hands of people outside the country.
High Court Master, Edmund Honahan, urges State to na6onalise repossessed homes
The Master of the High Court has called on the Government to na9onalise repossessed
homes and buy-to-lets that banks have sold to speculators and investment trusts and use
them as social housing.
hAp://www.independent.ie/business/personal-nance/property-mortgages/high-courtmaster-urges-state-to-na9onalise-repossessed-homes-34282536.html
OWNS
Its no Joke But More Tommy Cooper than Penn and Teller!
Irish Times Report on Dil Discussion Further Down
July only!
Q1
314, Q2 586, Q3 188
day.
dispersed.
state owned banks.
decisions
Irish families!
doing so!

Marie OHalloran
was 86.6 per cent.
mortgages.
were voluntary.

which exists.
Finance
for the whole country for Quarter 3,2015 as representative of the scale of the problem.
COURTS ONLY SIT FOR 1 OF THE 3 MONTHS IN QUARTER 3!! The Court
Service Figures for the whole country for Quarters 1 and 2 are 586 and 314 respectively.
withdrawn.
This can be done by government decision and does not require legislation.
Seamus Healy T.D.
18/01/2016
Tel 087 2802199

Dail Record of Reply by Michael Noonan to Seamus Healy TD on Repossessions (Jan 14)
is carried below together with article by Kitty Holland and other material from the Courts
Service
OWNS
July only!

Q1
314, Q2 586, Q3 188
day.
dispersed.
state owned banks.
decisions
Irish families!
doing so!
Repossessions of Dwellings by Court Order-From Courts Service
(Q2)April to June 2015
1. Residence
383
buy-to-let
97
other
106
Total
586
(Q1)Jan march 2015

233
29
52
Q3 (July to September)
Q3 Central Bank
order.
Q1,Q2,Q3
314
142
41
188
207 (properties)were repossessed on foot of a court

758
131
199
1088
The data, released to The Irish Times, also shows 1,088 repossession orders were granted
by the courts in the first nine months of the year, almost 70 per cent more than the
644 granted in the same period last year and 350 per cent more than the 240 granted
in the period in 2013.
Of the 1,088 orders made, 758 were for primary homes, 131 were for buy-to-lets and 199
were for other dwellings. Kitty Holland Irish Times Nov 12
These cases (court orders) in the statistics are not the only cases in which a financial
institution is foreclosing. The vast majority of mortgages contain a foreclosure clause
which becomes operative, without the need for a court order, if there is any failure in
payment of instalments.
Accordingly, only figures supplied by the credit institutions would disclose the overall
number of properties being recovered or sold by credit institutions.-Statement From
Courts Service August 6,2015
Noonan in Dil Jan 14
Central Bank. During the third quarter of 2015, legal proceedings were issued to enforce
the debt security on private dwelling house mortgages in 1,687 cases. During quarter three,
there were 798 cases where court proceedings concluded but arrears remained outstanding.
In 329 cases, the court granted an order for repossession or the sale of the property. A total
of 422 properties were taken into possession by lenders in the quarter, of which 207 were
repossessed on foot of a court order. The remaining 215 were voluntarily surrendered or
abandoned.
Ml Noonan On the question of repossessions, 207 houses were repossessed on foot of a
court order(in 2015-ph), which does not equate to the tens of thousands of houses
sometimes mentioned in commentary. Jan 14
More than 7,000 dwellings targeted by lenders up to

2015, says Courts Service
Thu, Nov 12, 2015, 01:00
Kitty Holland
Some 889 applications for repossession were refused by the courts so far this year.
Photograph: Getty Images
Banks have sought to repossess almost 4,500 homes since the start of the year, the latest
figures from the Courts Service of Ireland indicate.
These are in addition to the 7,100 dwellings lenders had already moved to repossess by
January 1st, 2015.
The figures, covering the first nine months of the year, show lenders lodged 4,440 civil
bills for repossession across the States 26 circuit courts.
Some 3,638 (82 per cent) of these are for primary homes, 89 (2 per cent) are for buy-to-lets
with 713 (16 per cent) for other dwellings.
However, the number of bills lodged is down compared with the same period last year
when 6,420 bills were lodged, indicating a possible levelling off in repossession activity by
the banks.
The data, released to The Irish Times, also shows 1,088 repossession orders were granted
by the courts in the first nine months of the year, almost 70 per cent more than the
644 granted in the same period last year and 350 per cent more than the 240 granted
in the period in 2013.
Of the 1,088 orders made, 758 were for primary homes, 131 were for buy-to-lets and 199
were for other dwellings.
Dail Record Jan 14
Home Repossession
3. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for Finance if he will insist that
Allied Irish Bank and its subsidiary the Educational Building Society and Permanent
TSB, which are in majority State ownership, desist from seeking repossession of
family homes through the Courts and withdraw all such existing applications before
the Courts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1426/16]

immediately.
banks

refusal to hand over her home to bank
Claire Knowles was lawfully jailed for contempt of court
order, High Court judge rules
Mary Carolan
Irish Times Dec 15
Claire Knowles (56) of Castlejane, Glanmire, Co Cork, who will remain on bail until
Wednesday evening after which time she will return to Limerick Prison unless she has
purged her contempt of the possession order. Photograph: Collins Court
A High Court judge has ruled a woman was lawfully jailed for contempt of a court order
requiring her hand over possession of her home to a bank.
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys told Claire Knowles she may remain on bail until 7pm on
Wednesday after which time she will return to Limerick Prison unless she has purged her
contempt of the possession order in the interim.
Ms Knowles was jailed by a judge at Cork Circuit Court on December 8th for contempt of
a court order of January 2014 requiring she hand over possession of her home near
Glanmire, Co Cork, to Bank of Ireland.
She was freed on conditional bail on December 10th pending the outcome of the inquiry,
under Article 40 of the Constitution, into the legality of her detention.
Giving his decision on Tuesday having heard arguments by Ms Knowles and the State, Mr
Justice Humphreys said he was bound by other court decisions concerning Article 40
inquiries and, in all the circumstances, must rule the detention is lawful.
He will give a written judgment outlining his reasons for that decision at a later stage.
The contempt application was brought by solicitors representing Bank of Ireland arising
from a mortgage taken out with ICS Building Society on Ms Knowles home at The Pines,
Castlejayne Woods, Glanmire, Co Cork.
An order for possession of that property was made by the Circuit Court in January 2014
and the High Court dismissed an appeal against that order in July 2014. Ms Knowles later
got an order from the Master of the High Court extending the time effectively for a second
appeal.
Attachment and committal proceedings were brought last October against Ms Knowles for
contempt over her failure to hand over possession and were adjourned to December 8th
when Cork Circuit Court directed her detention in Limerick Prison.
Ms Knowles was freed on conditional bail on December 10th pending the outcome of the
High Court inquiry, initiated the previous day under Article 40 of the Constitution, into the
lawfulness of her detention.
In his decision today, Mr Justice Humphreys commended Ms Knowles for the manner in
which she presented her case but said his hands were tied by various rulings which meant
he could not direct her release.
Among arguments advanced by her to support her claim that her detention was invalid, she
argued there was an error in the title of the committal warrant in that it was in the name of
ICS when it was lawyers representing BOI who sought her committal. She also argued she
was wrongly refused an adjournment of the contempt application so as to allow her try and
get legal representation.
Remy Farrell SC, for the governor of Limerick Prison, argued the net issue in the Article
40 inquiry was if Ms Knowles was denied an opportunity of getting legal representation,

and it was his case she was not.
The transcript of proceedings in the Circuit Court showed Ms Knowles chose to proceed
without legal representation after clearly considering matters over the lunch break on
December 8th, he said. The Circuit Court judge had made the jailing order after Ms
Knowles refused to give an undertaking to leave her home and she was manifestly in
contempt, counsel said.
On that date, the transcript of the hearing referred to counsel for the bank saying Ms
Knowles was still in the house and she was in flagrant breach of the order.
The Circuit Court judge warned Ms Knowles she was at strong risk of going to jail, should
get legal advice and the case would not be adjourned unless she undertook to abide by the
court order to leave the house.
It was very clear what she had to do and legal advice would not have altered that. It
seemed clear Ms Knowles later decided to represent herself as she was entitled to do but
she must take the consequences of that.
The Circuit Court judge had said he did not believe she was serious about getting out of
the house, he would jail her and refuse a stay, given the brazen contempt.
In her arguments, Ms Knowles said she is being turned into a criminal out of civil
litigation and these are not ordinary times.
She said the banks had had months to get their paperwork in order in her case but had
failed to do so until much later and then used the name of a non-entity in these
proceedings. Lawyers for the bank were unable to answer her when she had raised points
about the delay in amending the title of the case, she added.
She also said she had been refused legal aid for the Circuit Court proceedings as she did
not know how to get it and was given an hour to do so.
I was given no choice, she said.
NEED HELP? PHOENIX PROJECT

FREE OF CHARGE SERVICE www phoenixproject ie
Helpline: 1850 20 30 40
Phone: 057 8636830
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http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/the-debt-doctors-there-s-ablack-cloud-over-a-lot-of-people-1.2463335#.Vmw231bKiG0.mailto
Claire Knowles, Resisting Eviction, Released On Bail by High Court as large number
of supporters attend court
PLEASE,Could a Legal Team Offer to Represent Her Pro Bono Publico?
It is grossly Unfair That She Should Be Forced to Represent Herself.
Be there again NEXT MONDAY!
From Irish Times Breaking News

A woman jailed for contempt of a court order directing she hand over possession of her Co
Cork home to a bank has been freed on bail by the High Court.
Claire Knowles (56) was jailed on Tuesday over her failure to comply with orders obtained
by Bank of Ireland over the property at The Pines, Castlejayne Woods, Glamire.
She was brought to Limerick Prison where she was held until she was brought before the
High Court on Thursday for an inquiry into the legality of her detention.
The inquiry, under Article 40 of the Constitution, was sought on her behalf by anti-eviction
campaigner Ben Gilroy, who said he had assisted Ms Knowles in previous court cases
relating to the repossession.
Following a hearing, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys ordered her release on her own bail of
100, with a condition she stay away from her home, pending full determination of her
legal challenge.
She is to come back to court next Monday.
The judge ruled the governor of Limerick Prison was obliged to go behind the reasons for
her detention. To do that, the governor would have to apply to make Bank of Ireland a
notice party in this case, the judge said.
In those circumstances, the judge adjourned the inquiry to allow that occur. In the
meantime, he granted bail to Ms Knowles who was supported in court by a large number
of people.
Earlier, Remy Farrell SC, for the prison governor, said his client had no relationship, legal
or otherwise, with Bank of Ireland.
He could not compel witnesses to attend court or provide documentation in order to justify
the reasons for committing her to prison, counsel said.
Ms Knowles told the court she was too traumatised to make the case because she had been
in Limerick Prison and wanted Mr Gilroy to do it for her.
The judge ruled it was established case law only the person detained could make the
arguments before the court or could employ a qualified lawyer to do so.
Following an adjournment to allow the judge consider the law on representation in such
cases, Ms Knowles said she was a little more composed and would present it herself.
Support Release of brave Claire Knowles From Jail To-morrow

High Court 10.30 tomorrow Thursday Nov 10
Jailed for Refusing to Hand Over Her Home to Bank Of Ireland
Inquiry on legality of womans detention for contempt ordered
Claire Knowles jailed over contempt of direction to
hand over possession of home to bank

aIrish Timesbout 4 hours ago Updated: about 3 hours ago
Mary Carolan
A High Court judge has directed an inquiry into the legality of the detention
inLimerick Prison of a woman for contempt of a Circuit Court order directing she hand
over possession of her home to a bank.
Ben Gilroy, of Direct Democracy Ireland, applied on Wednesday to Mr JusticeMax
Barrett for the inquiry following the imprisonment the previous day ofClaire
Knowles (56), who lives with her son at Castlejayne, Glanmire, Cork.
During the application, Mr Gilroy said there was huge confusion over possession orders
made by the Circuit Court, an apparent reference to conflicting High Court decisions of
November and May last concerning the Circuit Courts jurisdiction to hear certain
repossession cases.
Suffered difficulties
He said Ms Knowles suffered difficulties including depression after the possession order
was made in January 2014, and the Master of the High Court later agreed to extend time
for her to appeal that possession order.
Ms Knowles has no recollection of getting a letter of demand of November 2009 and there
were issues about a signature on that, he added.
In an affidavit, Mr Gilroy said he is a friend of Ms Knowles. He said the warrant detaining
her was invalid as it was in the name of ICS Building Society and, as far as he was aware,
the governor and company of the Bank of Ireland had applied to the Circuit Court to
reconstitute the proceedings by substituting the governor and company of BOI earlier this
year.
Ms Knowles is in dispute with ICS, he said. On November 10th, the Master of the High
Court extended time for her and her son to appeal the Circuit Court possession order of
January 20th, 2014. When a further extension was sought on December 2nd, the Master
granted an additional 72 hours, he said.
Notice of appeal
Ms Knowles did serve her notice of appeal on December 2nd, he said.
He said the plaintiff bank in the Circuit Court proceedings appealed the Masters order, and
the High Court on Monday last dismissed the appeal and affirmed the Masters order of
November 10th.
Mr Gilroy said Ms Knowles previously appeared before Judge Donagh McDonagh at the
Circuit Court on October 27th. The judge said he had no jurisdiction in the Circuit Court
possession proceedings, refused to make an order for attachment and committal, and
adjourned the matter to December 8th when Ms Knowles appeared before Judge
ODonnabhain.
A friend of Ms Knowles who was present had given a written account stating the judge
warned Ms Knowles she was at risk of jail and should get legal representation. She was
unable to do so and was refused an adjournment to get a lawyer, the account stated.
Described as brazen
It was also stated, when her case was called, Ms Knowles began reading from a prepared
statement but was interrupted by the judge who made the committal order. It was stated she
continued to read the statement and the judge said she was in breach of the order and
described her as brazen.
Mr Justice Barrett said he would direct an inquiry under Article 40 of the Constitution into
the legality of Ms Knowles detention and order she be produced in court on Thursday
morning for that inquiry.
Dublin child homelessness figure doubles

to 1,400
Kitty Holland:Shameful:Dublin Simon

has described the figures as unacceptable
and shameful, while FOCUS
IRELAND said they showed Government
action has so far failed to halt the constant
flow of families becoming homeless.-Irish
Times
Olivia Kelly: But the deal is a far cry from the proposal by ALAN KELLY, Minister
for the Environment, to link private-sector rent increases to the consumer price index
for four years. The measures wont make a dent in existing rents, and its far from
certain that they will make renting a viable long-term option.-Irish Times(further
down)
Kitty Holland:IRISH TIMES Saturday,

November 14, 2015, 01:00
There are now more than 1,400 homeless children in Dublin more than twice as many as
a year ago, the latest figures show.
Data published last night by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive show that during the
week of 18th to 25th October there were 1,425 children in 677 families in emergency
accommodation.
This represents a 109 per cent increase in the number of homeless children since October
2014, when there were 680 children in emergency accommodation in the capital.
Of the total, 975 children in 461 families are in hotels, while 450 children in 216 are in
supported homeless accommodation.
Shameful
Dublin Simon has described the figures as unacceptable and shameful, while Focus
Ireland said they showed Government action has so far failed to halt the constant flow of
families becoming homeless.
Sam McGuinness, Dublin Simon chief executive, said he was alarmed at the numbers.
With no measures to stop the ever rising flow of people into homelessness over the past
year, we are now faced with the very shameful situation where 1,425 children are forced to
lay their head in inadequate accommodation, scared and vulnerable, without a safe home to
look to this Christmas.
He said rent certainty measures announced by the Government this week were inadequate,
as rents remained unaffordable for the poorest families dependent on rent supplement.
Mike Allen, director of advocacy with Focus Ireland, said the plan to freeze rents for two
years was welcome but added a rise in rent supplement levels was necessary to keep
poorer families in their homes.
Cumulative impact
The families which became homeless in October did so primarily as a result of the
cumulative effects of rising rents over the last two years, linked to a freeze in rent
supplement, said Mr Allen.
Even if the Governments package does has the effect of slowing down rents it will make
no difference to the families who will continue to lose their homes because of the
cumulative impact of rent rises over the last two years while the Government took no
action.
A spokeswoman for the DRHE, which manages homelessness services in the capital, said
month-on-month the provision of emergency accommodation for families was being
increased.
In addition the executive was working to ensure 500 modular homes would be delivered
next year to provide temporary accommodation for homeless families. National
homelessness data for October are to be published by the Department of the Environment
over the weekend.
2015 irishtimes.com
Irelands rental crisis: Will new measures

help?
Olivia Kelly
Irish Times Saturday, November 14, 2015, 01:00
After months of inter-Coalition wrangling, and years of escalating rents, the Government
has come up with a solution to Irelands rental-accommodation crisis: landlords can raise
rents only every two years instead of every year. As showpieces go its hardly dazzling.
But is it enough to make a difference?
There is a bit more to the package that the Government is calling its new deal for tenants.
There will be increased notice periods both for ending a lease and for increasing rent. The
long-promised deposit-protection scheme, whereby tenants deposits would be held by the
Private Residential Tenancies Board rather than by a landlord, will be set up.
But the deal is a far cry from the proposal by Alan Kelly, Minister for the Environment, to
link private-sector rent increases to the consumer price index for four years. The measures
wont make a dent in existing rents, and its far from certain that they will make renting a
viable long-term option.
At other times this may not have mattered quite so much. Ten years ago one in 10
households lived in privately rented accommodation. Now its one in five, and another 10
per cent live in rented social housing. Numbers renting are even higher in urban areas: a
quarter of Dublin city homes are privately rented. Historically, most Irish people have
viewed renting as a temporary measure, a stopgap between leaving the nest and having the
wherewithal to buy your own place.
Even with so many more people renting, this perception hasnt changed. A report late last
year by the economic consultancy DKM on the future of the private rented sector,
commissioned by the Housing Agency, showed a low appetite for long-term renting.
Almost three-quarters of renters planned to leave the rental market this year or next. Just
17 per cent saw themselves as lifelong tenants, and for most of those it was not because
they wanted to but because they had to. The majority in this category cited an inability to
afford a house as the main reason they had continued to rent.
Separately, a large group of the population rent from landlords with State assistance, and
they dont seem to want to stay as private-sector tenants either.
We dont know for certain how many people want a council house. The last national
assessment of need, completed in 2013, showed that just under 90,000 applicants were on
local-authority waiting lists. Dublin City Council had 16,000 on the list at the time; last
July the figure had increased to almost 21,600. More than 100,000 applicants are now
likely to be waiting.
And these are just the people who have had their need for a council house approved; many
more are skittering around the eligibility threshold and would like the stability of a council
house in effect a home for life, something the private rental sector certainly does not
guarantee.
What all these figures show is that almost nobody living in private rental accommodation,
supplemented or not, wants to be there. And its easy to understand why.
The high cost of renting and the inability to control and predict that cost in the medium or
long term is a major drawback. Rents have been rising steadily since 2013, particularly in
Dublin. The rises havent been minor: rents in the capital went up by 9.2 per cent in the
year to the end of June, and rents across the State went up by 5.8 per cent, according to the
Private Residential Tenancies Board.
This means that the average Dublin renter, who had been paying 1,275 a month for a
house or 1,152 for an apartment in the summer of 2014, is now paying 1,387 for a
house and 1,260 for an apartment. Rents for houses outside Dublin increased from 656
to 695 in the year, and for apartments from 623 to 660.
Why has this happened? Its a simple equation of supply and demand. To give the short
version of the housing boom and bust: we spent a few years building too many houses
(more than 93,000 in 2006), many of them in the wrong places, then spent a few years
building far too few (8,301 homes in 2013) anywhere.
Things improved a little last year: 11,016 homes were completed, but thats fewer than the
number the year records began, 1970, when 13,887 houses were built. The 11,016 built last
year are just over half what the Housing Agency says is the minimum needed to meet
demand.
Theres an inevitable trickledown effect. Without enough homes for sale, would-be buyers
keep renting. More people renting in a market with fewer homes pushes up rents. More
people renting who in a normal market would have the money to buy pushes it up even
further.
Real solution
At the end of the chain are people who cant afford to rent anywhere, and for whom social
housing isnt available.
The only real solution is to build more. Construction 2020, published in May 2014, was
the Governments first response to this need. To a large degree it was a strategy for
strategies, recommending the setting up of taskforces and working groups.
The recently announced Budget 2016 has more solid housing-construction measures. Four
thousand houses are to be provided next year under the first phase of an initiative to build
20,000 homes on sites controlled by the National Asset Management Agency by 2020.
About 90 per cent will be in the Greater Dublin Area, and three-quarters will be starter
homes.
This weeks housing package also included an initiative aimed at kick-starting the
construction of 7,000 more affordable homes in Dublin and Cork. Developers will receive
rebates on construction levies where a scheme has more than 50 homes and where houses
are priced at less than 300,000 in Dublin and 250,000 in Cork.
These initiatives should help to speed up supply, but building houses takes a couple of
years on average, so this doesnt alleviate the immediate pressures on the rental market.
Thats where the new deal should help. The two-year rent freeze gives private tenants
breathing space to muster a deposit towards their own home if they so wish or to find a
better deal if measures to increase supply and reduce prices work.
One announcement this week could bring a glimmer of hope to tenants reliant on State
support. Tax relief will be introduced to encourage landlords to rent their properties to
tenants in receipt of social-housing supports such as rent supplement. These landlords will
be able to claim 100 per cent tax relief, up from the current 75 per cent. This carrot is more
likely to yield results than any of the Governments rent-regulation sticks.
The Government also hopes to boost the market by making apartment construction more
appealing to builders. Its guidelines on apartment standards enforceable by ministerial
direction are to be issued early next year.
Apartments for hipsters
Here the Government is following the example of Dublin City Council, which has put
forward the notion of smaller apartments for renters only described by one councillor as
apartments for hipsters. With 63 per cent of renters aged under 34, and multinational firms
that the Government is so eager to attract saying that they cant find accommodation for
their workers, there may be a case for allowing these smaller units.
Another form of rental provision, which is likely to prove more popular, is the idea of
public housing. This would involve having private developers and investors build housing
on council land, combining social rental with private rental.
Two schemes put forward in the Budget seem similar in intent. One is the concept of an
affordable-rental scheme, for which 10 million from the sale of Bord Gis has been set
aside to fund a pilot project. This will be aimed at people whose incomes are above the
threshold for State rental assistance but who cannot afford private rents.
The other, for social-housing tenants, involves a new form of public-private partnership in
Dublin. In the new scheme, sites stay in the ownership of the State, and the developer
receives payments for 25 years, after which the houses or apartments return to State
ownership.
These are positive moves that could stave off a similar rental crisis in future. But they are
unlikely to help people who right now cant afford, or cant find, a place to rent.
2015 irishtimes.com
Alan Kelly (Labour) Backs Down on Rent Control.

Government plans to solve Irelands rental crisis could see landlords hike rents
immediately, will not prevent future rises, and risks marking the return of lowquality bedsits to the market.
Threshold chief executive Bob Jordan said the charity has alerted officials to
concerns rent would be inflated during the review period a view shared by
housing expert Dr Lorcan Sirr, who said landlords will frontload rises because they
will not be able to next year. Irish Examiner Nov 7
Kelly had sought that rent increases be pegged to the cost of living. But Minister
Noonan(FG) backed by 25 Landlord TDs, and American developers Kennedy Wilson
forced him to bend the knee and retreat.
Landlords can only increase the rent every two years now rather than every year as before.
Landlords must get three local examples of rents to justify an increase.!!! This will make
almost no difference.In a situation where there is no competition between landlords due to
shortage of accomodation,landlords can simply raise the rent by double the yearly increase
every two years! AND WORSE STILL, THE LANDLORD CAN HIKE THE RENT
BEFORE THE NEW LAW COMES IN.The Dil Sat All Night to Bail Out the Banks
bondholders, but there is no urgency to protect tenants!
And, of course, Alan is preparing to take water charges from your pay or welfare cheque.
Focus Ireland Spokesperson said:However, we are highly concerned it will fail to stem
the constant rising flow of 70 to 80 families becoming homeless in Dublin alone very
month. The measures are far from a convincing response to the scale of the problems
we are facing, he added.
Housing Crisis is Due to the Restrictions of the EU Fiscal Treaty and by
PROHIBITION by the FG/Labour Government of Local Authority Borrowing for
House Building Purposes to comply with these restrictions.
This policy leaves Government completely at the mercy of private developers. US
investors Kennedy Wilson advised Mr Noonans officials(before Budget) by letter that
investment in property here could be eliminated if rent controls were introduced Irish
Examiner Nov2 2015
Therefore local authorities, which are currently debarred from accessing Housing
Finance Agency loans, due to concerns about its implications for the national debt, need to
be given permission to borrow again for social housing provision Dr Michelle Norris,
UCD
Government found it more Important to give away 750 million in tax relief including 100
million to the Super-rich rather than allow local authorities to borrow 750 million for
housing purposes
THE HOUSING POLICIES of THIS GOVERNMENT and THE PREVIOUS
GOVERNMENT HAVE LEFT THOSE IN NEED OF SOCIAL HOUSING IN A
STATE OF VIRTUAL TOTAL NEGLECT (I have brought together below articles by
DR Rory Hearne, Dr Michelle Norris and Fintan OToole on the housing crisis)
The housing crisis is due to the implementation of a policy under which the ability of the
rich to make profits out of housing provision and the opportunity for the rich to pay low
taxes on their incomes and assets to the to the state, are prioritised over the need of all
citizens to have security of tenure in an adequate dwelling. The Free Market IDEOLOGY
to which Fintan OToole refers is being deployed by governments and economists to
justify this prioritisation.
The implementation of these pro-rich policies is enshrined in legislation and EU treaties.
Why cannot Local authorities borrow money to fund a social house building programme?
As Dr Michelle Norris UCD attests (below)local authorities, are currently debarred from
accessing Housing Finance Agency loans, due to concerns about its implications for the
national debt.
Under capitalism, borrowing by the state to provide assets that will endure for 100 years or
more makes perfect sense. But FF,FG and Labour supported an EU Fiscal Treaty which
places restrictions on state debt irrespective of human need. This leaves these parties with
three options in order to provide housing:
a) IMPOSE SERIOUS TAX INCREASES on INCOME AND ASSETS OF THE SUPERRICH

b) Leave the Provision of Housing to the Free Market
c) IMPOSE NEW TAXES ON the Majority of the Population
It is not surprising that governments of the rich opt for a combination of b) and c)
KEY QUOTES FROM ARTICLES BELOW
It is a national emergency and without a significant shift in policy the crisis will only
worsen. At the current rate of families becoming homeless there will be more than 6,000
children in emergency accommodation by 2017. This is deeply traumatic for children and
their families. It is arguably a breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.The
current crisis results from decades of housing policy that followed the private free-market
approach which treated housing primarily as a commodity and speculative investment
asset-Dr Rory Hearne, Tasc .
And still, after all weve been through, 75 per cent of the Governments promised social
housing is to be built (supposedly) by the private sector.There is an almost obsessive fear
of stating the obvious that a large proportion of people will never be decently housed by
the market. Those citizens need a State thats not afraid to clear the ground of narrow
ideology and build on the foundations of real human needs. That might involve relearning
another forgotten word republic. Fintan OToole Irish Times Columnist
Therefore local authorities, which are currently debarred from accessing Housing
Finance Agency loans, due to concerns about its implications for the national debt, need to
be given permission to borrow again for social housing provision. This is the only realistic
method of raising sufficient finance for and delivering a social housing programme on the
scale required to meet current needs. A relatively small amount of public borrowing for
this purpose could have enormous social benefits and cut spending on rent supplements.Dr Michelle Norris UCD
Rory Hearne: The STATE MUST INTERVENE IN THE HOUSING MARKET
Last Updated: Thursday, October 22, 2015, 05:15
The Irish housing system is in an unprecedented crisis. This is visible in escalating rents,
economic evictions, mortgage arrears, repossessions, waiting lists, substandard
accommodation and the growing numbers of those unable to buy a home.
It is a national emergency and without a significant shift in policy the crisis will only
worsen. At the current rate of families becoming homeless there will be more than 6,000
children in emergency accommodation by 2017. This is deeply traumatic for children and
their families. It is arguably a breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The current crisis results from decades of housing policy that followed the private freemarket approach which treated housing primarily as a commodity and speculative
investment asset.
This continues today with the crisis being analysed as one of demand outstripping supply
and discussion focused on how to incentivise the property industry to build more housing
stock.
However, during the boom there was plenty of supply and still prices rose to unaffordable
and unsustainable levels contributing to the crash. This is because price is determined not
simply by demand and supply but also by profit seeking, costs of investment, and
government regulation.
Developers can and do sit for decades on land or leave property derelict until they consider
it profitable to commence building. Right now there is 2,233 hectares of undeveloped
zoned land in the wider Dublin region which could provide 102,500 new housing units.
The basic problem with a free market approach to housing is that the private market only
caters for a demand that can provide a profit. If you cant provide a sufficient profit, as is
the case with many low income households, then you dont count. The current crisis is not
just a once-off market failure it is the modus operandi of the private housing market.
Predominantly free market or neoliberal housing systems like ours are characterised by
persistent boom and busts, affordability problems, and exclusion.
That is why the state must intervene to protect people from the market. It could do this in
two ways which would fundamentally address the crisis. Firstly, there is an immediate
need for rent certainty (where rents cannot be increased beyond a certain index such as
inflation) and improved tenant protections in the private rented sector. Rent regulation
exists in many European countries (who incidentally have plenty of supply).
There is no constitutional impediment to such a measure, as Article 43.2.1 of Bhunreacht

na hEireann states that the right of private ownership ought to be regulated by the
principles of social justice and the State may, delimit by law these rights for the
common good. The introduction of rent certainty, as with other measures, is clearly a
political choice and the Constitution should not be hidden behind as an excuse for inaction.
Secondly, a State Homes and Housing Agency should be formed to deliver a historic
social, rental and affordable house building and refurbishment programme of well-planned,
sustainable, and mixed communities. This would be a partnership between local
authorities, government departments, housing associations, NAMA and the Housing
Finance Agency. It would have access to land, finance and institutional expertise. It should
have 1.5bn of annual capital funding from the state. The current allocation of 500
million to new social housing building in the Capital Investment Plan is inadequate as it
will only provide 1400 new units nationally next year with fewer than 300 of those in
Dublin City.
The Agency could build on the 30 hectares of land that Dublin City Council is currently
being forced to sell off through a Public Private Partnership because it does not have the
finances to build on it itself. It could redirect into social use the 4.5billion NAMA plans
to invest with various vulture funds on high end office and apartment developments. A
Housing and Homes Agency could draw on finance from the European Investment Bank. It
could also compulsory purchase vacant and derelict buildings and take over buy-to-lets in
arrears and convert them to low cost rental housing.
As it currently stands the 20,000 units the government has outlined NAMA will provide in
order to address supply will not be social units but are to be delivered on a commercial
basis and are more likely to be sold to international investment funds rather than as starter
homes. Indeed NAMAs promotion of and involvement with global wealth funds in the
Irish property market must be questioned as to how it is benefitting the Irish housing
system. It is facilitating the trend where housing is increasingly becoming a global
investment asset for the wealthy 1per cent.
Problems in our housing system are affecting economic competitiveness, contributing to
rising deprivation, inequality and poverty, and lowering educational and employment
prospects of those affected. The 2008 crash should be a stark warning that a rising property
market is not necessarily a good thing. The housing system will only be fixed when
policy treats housing in the first instance as a home, a social necessity and a human right,
not a speculative investment asset or commodity.
Dr Rory Hearne, Senior Policy Analyst, TASC Think-tank for Action on Social Change
2015 irishtimes.com
Fintan OToole: Opposition to social housing is matter of ideology not economics
Fintan OToole Irish Times : Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 04:00

Fellmongery is the preparation of animal skins for tanning. A pollard is an animal that has
had its horns removed. In 1949, official statistics still listed Irelands principal products
as including fellmongery, laces, pigs heads, pollard and snuff.
Yet in that same year, 1949, my mothers family moved into the Dublin Corporation house
where I would later grow up. A poor, primitive, backward economy could build social
housing on a large scale for people who lacked decent homes.
And the rich, developed, globalised Irish economy of 2015 cant.
In the late 1940s, when my family was housed, Ireland was still recovering from the
drastic economic effects of the second World War. The average industrial wage was 5.59
a week for men and 2.97 for women.
In real terms, thats less than a third of average industrial wages in 1998 before the Celtic
Tiger bubble. Fewer than a third of households in 1949 had more than four rooms to live
in. More than 60 per cent of households had no piped water supply. Nearly half had no
sanitary facilities only 255,000 houses had a flush toilet.
And yet the State could build social housing.
Health and education
Infant mortality was about a hundred times higher than it is now. Kids still died in large
numbers from pneumonia, TB, whooping cough and diphtheria. Male life expectancy at
birth was less than 65 years.
People were badly educated in 1950, a grand total of 4,500 students sat the Leaving
Certificate exam and the number in all our universities combined was 7,900. The entire
output of Irish broadcasting was seven hours of radio a day. There were just 43,000 phone
lines in the State, only a third of them domestic.
The Irish economy, dominated by agriculture and food production, was a paltry thing: total
exports in 1949 amounted to just 61 million.
Almost all of this went to the UK as raw product the characteristic Irish export was a live
cow in the hold of a cattle boat. In order of scale, the leading Irish exports in 1949 were
cattle, horses, fresh hen eggs, ale/beer/porter, chocolate crumb, dead turkeys and tinned
beef. This makes tinned beef our leading manufacturing export.
The estate I grew up in, Crumlin in southwest Dublin, was built by the local authority,
Dublin Corporation, with funding from the central government. The process actually
started in the 1930s, during the Great Depression: 250 acres of south Crumlin were
acquired by compulsory purchase in 1934 and the building of over 3,000 houses began
more or less straight away.
The project was far from perfect. The houses were too small most, like the one I grew up
in, had just two bedrooms for big (often extended) Irish Catholic families. (Our household,
by no means untypical, had three adults and five children.) Services and facilities were
slow to follow.
But the rent was affordable and the houses were a hell of a lot better than what most people
had before.
My mother had been living (with seven other people) in what was essentially a one-room
cottage in the Liberties; my father grew up in a little hovel off the Dublin quays.
The market never had and never would give them a decent place to live the State did
so instead. For all the problems, people in Crumlin had a secure roof over their heads and
the chance to build a good community. We had homes.
Why could the State do this in the hungry 1930s and the postwar 1940s but not now?
Not because we cant but because, as Enda Kenny put it last week, interference in the
market must be avoided. The desperation to avoid the simple conclusion that government
should build houses for people who need them is about ideology, not resources. Fine Gael,
in particular, seems incapable of understanding housing as anything other than a market.
Free-market ideology
It is striking that the decline in the building of social housing in Ireland follows directly
from the rise of so called free market ideology in the Thatcher/Reagan era. In the mid1970s, social housing made up a third of all new houses. The shift in which that proportion
dropped to just 5 per cent was as disastrous economically as it was socially the property
bubble could not have inflated without it.
And still, after all weve been through, 75 per cent of the Governments promised social
housing is to be built (supposedly) by the private sector.
There is an almost obsessive fear of stating the obvious that a large proportion of people
will never be decently housed by the market. Those citizens need a State thats not afraid
to clear the ground of narrow ideology and build on the foundations of real human needs.
That might involve relearning another forgotten word republic.
2015 irishtimes.com
From Dr MICHELLE NORRIS UCD
Letter to Irish Times
Sir, Fintan OToole (Opposition to social housing is matter of ideology not economics,
Opinion & Analysis, October 20th) in part answers his own question when he asks why the
State could afford to fund a major social house-building programme during the hungry
Fifties when there was no free secondary education and many of the social welfare
benefits available today did not exist. Relatively low spending on most other public
services facilitated levels of public investment in housing which were the highest in
western Europe at this time.
Growing spending on social welfare and health, particularly during the 1970s, is one of the
reasons why spending on social housing was cut back. Therefore, unlike its counterparts in
the inter-party government of the 1950s, the current Government faces the challenge of
concurrently funding a social house building programme and a comprehensive system of

benefits and public services.
However, the other part of the answer to the question raised by Fintan OToole sheds light
on how the current Government can meet this challenge. High levels of social housing
delivery were possible in the 1950s because the funding method spread out the costs of
provision and kept them affordable for government. At this time social housing was funded
by very long-term loans, which were repaid using a mix of central government subsidies,
tenants rents and the proceeds of domestic rates.
This funding model collapsed when domestic rates were abolished in 1978 and after that
the exchequer paid for social house building in lump-sum grants. The latter arrangement
was less affordable because the costs of provision were paid up front rather than spread out
over a long period, which helps to explain why insufficient numbers of social houses were
built even during the Celtic Tiger period.
This lesson has been partially taken on board by policymakers and in recent years loan
finance had been provided for social housing provision by non-profit housing associations
by the Housing Finance Agency, which borrows on capital markets and from EU
institutions for this purpose. The agency currently has some 500 million available for
lending to this sector at a fixed interest rate of 3.25 per cent.
However, despite great work by some housing associations, it is not realistic to think that
this sector, which delivered 25 per cent of social housing prior to the bust, has the capacity
to meet the full scale of current housing needs, at least in the short term.
Therefore local authorities, which are currently debarred from accessing Housing Finance
Agency loans, due to concerns about its implications for the national debt, need to be given
permission to borrow again for social housing provision. This is the only realistic method
of raising sufficient finance for and delivering a social housing programme on the scale
required to meet current needs. A relatively small amount of public borrowing for this
purpose could have enormous social benefits and cut spending on rent supplements.
Local authorities were traditionally the main providers of social housing in Ireland, and
Fintans OTooles article eloquently describes the huge contribution which council
housing made to improving the lives of his own family in the 1950s.
I agree that they have to play a central role if we are to solve the current housing shortage.
However, I disagree with his assertion that achieving this is a matter of ideology; an
affordable method of resourcing this work has to be put in place as well. Yours, etc,
Dr MICHELLE NORRIS,
School of Social Policy,
Social Work and
Social Justice,
University College Dublin,
Belfield, Dublin 4.
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1. October 20, 2016 at 10:00 am
Healy condemns shocking eviction attempt and compliments Anti Eviction
Taskforce : Tipp Tatler Magazine
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In defence of Education and the Public Services

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Home > Uncategorized > HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS CRISIS

HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS CRISIS

Continued Evictions (Courts Bill 2016)

Seamus Healy TD Amendment to Formally Declare a

A message shall be sent to the Seanad acquainting it

Deputy Seamus Healy: I move amendment No. 5:

It Was Left To Seamus Healy TD To Call

tackling the housing emergency.

Committee Stage Of Courts Bill

Amendments to Court Bill (Fast-Tracking

Second Amendment Stopping The State RETROSPECTIVELY MAKING

Seamus Healy TD 087-2802199

AMENDMENT TO PLANNING and DEVELOPMENT

AMENDMENT RECOMMENDED BY FOCUS IRELAND TO MAKE PROTECTION

New Section 16.

Restriction on termination of tenancies of buy-to-let dwellings.

GOVERNMENT OWNED BANKS AND

VOTING ON SECOND STAGE OF

FF, FG, Labour, Independent Alliance(Including Finian

OF BANKS IN THE CONSTITUTION

SPEECH ON HOUSING AND

Seamus Healy TD - HOUSING CRISIS AND FAILED CLONLARA E

Supply of new houses to fall short amid

CLARE FM REPORT REVERSAL OF

GARDA INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS OF

REPORT ON CLONLARA HOME

THE ALLEGATIONS SET OUT IN LIAM DEEGANS

Family Home With Several Children In

by PEOPLE POWER AND ANTIEVICTION TASK FORCE AFTER

Homeless at Increased Risk of SuicideOfficial Report-Gerry Raleigh, Director of

Ministers John Halligan and Finian McGrath ,Shane

EVICTION RELATED SUICIDES

GOVERNMENT, FF, LAB, INDEPENDENT

FG, FF, Lab, Ind. Alliance and,

that any significant interference with the

Evidence to Commission by Alan Kelly (Lab) TD- former Minister for

Letter To All Members of Oireachtas Committee on

PRESIDENT HIGGINS TELLS

AS THE BUDGET APPROACHES, GOVERNMENT SHOULD TAKE

A Sheriff has NO AUTHORITY to take a

ANOTHER HUGE TAX GIVEAWAY BY

RENT OF HOUSES ROCKETTING

THe IRISH PEOPLE must establish ITS OWN SOVEREIGNTY

Stay in your homes-HELP IS FREE!

Government Evicts Families-Statement by Seamus Healy TD

This government is continuing to evict families from their homes.

3,041 families up for eviction in court in

Portlaoise 40 and 32.

John McManus Business Editor Irish

Eviction Proceedings-No Pause in

Plan is just a pre-election gimmick

Surprise! Surprise! There is no halt to evictions (even on a temporary basis) in Coveneys

plan. Unfortunately Sinn Fin and Independents 4 Change(Mick Wallace, Maureen

NO Housing Emergency Formally Declared

Misleading Government Spin

FINAL WARNING TO GOVERNMENTHALT EVICTION PROCEEDINGS

as we must not cause distress of any kind to anyone in attendance.

INVITATION TO TDs AND SENATORS-KEN

FG, FF, Lab, Ind. Alliance and,

Commission Fails to recommend a formal declaration of a housing emergency by