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Families Robbed Of Homes...

Families set to be ‘robbed’ of their homes...


AN avalanche of repossessions "robbing" cash-strapped families of their homes will follow the creation of NAMA, opposition leaders have warned.

Fine Gael and Labour joined forces to plead with Finance Minister Brian Lenihan to launch a rescue lifeline package for people falling behind with mortgages as the controversial NAMA legislation was pushed through the Dáil.

Labour finance spokesperson Joan Burton predicted "reckless lenders" were only holding off on going after families in financial difficulties until they had secured the €54bn deal from the State to take toxic developer loans off their hands.

"Ordinary families will be leeched by the banks and building societies as soon as they get the NAMA money. They pushed money at people at the height of the boom and now will go after them to get it back."

Ms Burton said a 24-month moratorium should be extended to householders with problems who were trying to deal with their financial difficulties.

Fine Gael said 35,000 families would soon be in arrears and an "avalanche" of repossessions is imminent. Mr Lenihan strongly rejected the claim, stating there was no evidence for such a prediction, as he claimed the Government had already taken widespread action to protect homeowners in trouble.

Mr Lenihan said he planned amendments to the NAMA structure allowing him powers to issue guidelines to financial institutions on opening up credit to small firms.

The clashes came as NAMA was completing its committee stage through the Dáil with the opposition insisting the agency was being clouded in secrecy.

Fine Gael finance spokes-person Richard Bruton said he may move to break up the big banks covered by NAMA if the party gets into power. He also warned that a "gagging clause" is to be put on the chief executive and chairman of the agency.

They accused Mr Lenihan of trying to "muzzle" the yet-to-be-appointed heads of the agency from making critical comments.

Mr Lenihan denied censorship, saying there was "ample precedent" for the measures and denied they were being censored.

Fine Gael insisted a member of staff from the State financial watchdog, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office, should be appointed to NAMA to act as a monitor.

Mr Lenihan refused the move saying it would conflict with the role of the Financial Regulator.

The minister also strongly rejected claims his comments about delays in passing the NAMA legislation had triggered a stock market dive on Wednesday.

He claimed too much had been read into his Dáil comments on delays in transferring major loans to NAMA by the end of the year and he still believed the original timetable could be met, if the Dáil did not drag out the legislation process.



Report By Shaun Connolly Political Correspondent - Irish Examiner.

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