NAMA launched its 80:20 Deferred Payment Initiative on 8 May 2012. This initiative is being made available initially on a pilot basis in respect of 115 houses located in residential developments in counties Dublin, Meath and Cork. Further details on the Initiative including eligible properties are available on NAMA's website, www.nama.ie. I am informed by NAMA that the pilot scheme will be subject to an evaluation as to its outcome and that it may in future extend the Initiative to additional residential units and, if so, it is envisaged that these would be located across the range of regions in which its debtors control units which may be suitable.
Regarding the issue of mortgage difficulty, last summer the Government's Economic Management Council established an inter-departmental group to consider further actions that could be deployed to address the increasing problem of mortgage over-indebtedness. This group, which was chaired by Mr. Declan Keane, produced its report at the end of September and it was subsequently published by Government last October. The report concluded that blanket debt forgiveness schemes would not be an effective use of scare resources and that interventions should best be utilized to assist people address temporary repayment difficulties or, if necessary in more difficult cases, for banks and the State authorities to develop and provide more sustainable options on a case by case basis. The Government has accepted the "Keane Report" recommendations as the most appropriate general way to address the problem of significant mortgage arrears. A high level steering group of senior officials, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, is now overseeing the implementation of these measures.
On the wider issue of mortgage affordability, and in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government, I announced in Budget 2012 that I was increasing mortgage interest relief to 30 per cent for first-time buyers who took out their first mortgage in the period 2004 to 2008. This was the period during which house prices were at their peak.
I have sought to be as flexible as possible within the constraints pertaining. Under the current tax legislation Mortgage Interest Relief is granted from the date the first mortgage interest payment is made. The legislation has been amended for this particular measure to also include mortgage draw-down as a qualifying event for the rate increase. This means that a mortgage holder will qualify for the increased rate if they made their first mortgage interest payment in the period 2004 to 2008 or if they drew down their mortgage in that period.
