Seán Ó Fearghaíl
Question:122 Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Finance his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding mortgage debt issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31003/11]
View answerTuesday, 25 October 2011
Questions (108)
Written answers
I would like to thank the Deputy for bringing to my attention the proposals for dealing with the mortgage arrears situation. As the Deputy is aware a lot of discussion has taken place to deal with the mortgage arrears situation and a lot of suggestions have been put forward. In November 2010, the Expert Group on Mortgage Arrears and Personal Debt published its report. All of the Group's recommendations are listed in Chapter 2 of the Report which can be accessed on my Department's website: www.finance.gov.ie.
More recently, the Economic Management Council, of which I am a member, requested an Inter-Departmental Mortgage Arrears Working Group to consider further necessary actions to alleviate the increasing problem of mortgage over-indebtedness. The Group's report was published on 12 October 2011 and is also available on my Department's website. The report was debated in the Dáil this week. This debate gave all sides of the House the opportunity to contribute in a constructive and realistic manner to the deliberations on this important issue. As I stated in the House, all of us recognise that the problem is a complex one. Neither the work of the Group nor the report were designed to offer the complete solution to the mortgage arrears problem. As is recommended in the report, further solutions need to be developed by the mortgage lenders and these need to be assessed by the Central Bank. The report sets out some very important recommendations on where the State should play its part by supporting mortgage to rent schemes, establishing a mortgage advisory function and introducing more appropriate bankruptcy legislation. Its sets out a clear framework for assessing individual situations and a range of suggested solutions.
I have instructed the Banking Division of my Department to begin discussions with the banks to ensure implementation of the measures set out in the report.