Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 1 April 2015
25. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the efforts his Department is making to assist families and persons in mortgage distress and owing arrears, and those facing repossession and eviction from the family home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13066/15]
View answerThe Government has put in place a broad strategy to address the problem and a key part of this was the 2013 Central Bank Mortgage Arrears Resolution Targets (MART) framework, which set out demanding quanititative targets for mortgage arrears resolution at the six main Irish mortgage lenders who account for around 90% of the mortgages in Ireland. These targets required the six lenders to meet targets at quarterly intervals to both "propose" and "conclude" sustainable solutions in relation to both PDH and BTL mortgagees more than 90 days in arrears. This strategy had a beneficial impact as the number of mortgage accounts in arrears has declined and the number of restructures put in place to deal with mortgage difficulty has increased.
The CBI's Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (CCMA) sets out requirements for mortgage lenders dealing with borrowers facing or in mortgage arrears on their primary residence. The CCMA provides a strong consumer protection framework to ensure that borrowers struggling to keep up mortgage repayments are treated in a fair and transparent manner by their lender, and that long term resolution is sought by lenders with each of their borrowers. The CCMA states that a lender may only commence legal proceedings for repossession where the lender has made every reasonable effort to agree an alternative repayment arrangement under the CCMA with the borrower or his/her nominated representative and the specific timeframes set out in the CCMA have been adhered to or the borrower has been classified as not co-operating.
There is a wide range of advisory services available to borrowers such as the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS). The establishment of the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) was also a very significant step in addressing cases of over-indebtedness. The initial take-up of the service was low but this has improved and has shown significant success. 75% of proposals have been supported by creditors.
The effective management of the mortgage arrears issue is, however, an area that remains under continuous review. More and concerted action can be undertaken by the banks to assist customers in arrears and, as the Taoiseach has previously announced, my Department is considering a range of options to support the existing framework and to improve the uptake of personal insolvency solutions.
