Kenny’s debt write-off rebuttal criticised

The Taoiseach has been accused of trying to absolve himself of rules on mortgage restructuring after he suggested banks should not use the very powers that his Government granted them.

Enda Kenny said it would be “quite incredible” if banks asked people to give up jobs as part of insolvency settlements in cases where childcare costs exceeded the second family income.

“People have the right to work,” he said on the campaign trail in Meath East, where a by-election is held tomorrow. “People have the right to earn money to raise their families in the best way possible.”