I propose to take Questions Nos. 67 to 69, inclusive, together.
My Department has requested the six main banks operating in Ireland, and who fall within the Central Bank Mortgage Arrears Resolution Targets (MART) process, to provide data on the restructuring situation in relation to all primary dwelling mortgages, both in arrears and not in arrears, on a monthly basis. This process is separate from the Central Bank quarterly data collection and publication process and is intended to provide certain data on the level of mortgage restructures on a more timely basis. It should be noted that these are voluntary and unaudited returns by the relevant banks, and have not gone through the lenders quality control process for regulatory return purposes. However, it is considered to be a desirable development to place more timely and frequent mortgage restructuring data into the public domain.
The data as published is the aggregate position of all the MART institutions and it would not be appropriate for my Department to publish institution specific data. The aggregate mortgage data currently available for publication in this data series includes:
- the number of primary dwelling mortgage accounts
- the number of such accounts in arrears
- the number of such accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days
- the total number of accounts that have been subject to a permanent or temporary restructure
- the number of accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days that have been subject to a permanent or temporary restructure
- information on the type of permanent or temporary restructures that have been put in place.
As the Deputy will be aware, the level and scale of action and reporting required from the banks under the MART and other regulatory requirements is increasing, and in that context, my Department will keep under review the type of data that can be collected and published in a timely manner as part of this new monthly data series. For example, while my Department’s mortgage data series does not give an indication of the numbers meeting the terms of the restructures put in place, it is noted that the Central Bank MART process has set targets in this area to apply from 2014.
