Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 May 2015
23. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Finance the specific proposed legislative changes to be made to deal with the mortgage crisis, as mentioned in the Spring Economic Statement 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17508/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the Government has put in place a broad strategy to address the problem of mortgage arrears and family home repossessions. The primary focus of this strategy is to support those homeowners in difficulty with their mortgage repayments and, insofar as possible, to avoid repossession of the family home. The Central Bank of Ireland'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 and 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. Where a borrower engages with his lender, a sustainable restructure arrangement to address his/her mortgage arrears situation is agreed in the majority of cases. The Central Bank's most recent quarterly release on Residential Mortgage arrears and Repossessions (Q4 2014) indicates that almost 115,000 restructure arrangements have been put in place.
A key focus of any forthcoming initiatives from Government will be to ensure that distressed borrowers are fully informed about appropriate supports, how to access them and how they can help. Many borrowers can find solutions through the options offered by the Insolvency Service of Ireland and Government will ensure that the personal insolvency process is as fair and effective as possible and that the objectives as set out in the original Personal Insolvency Act are realised as much as possible. My colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, and her officials are actively preparing amendments to the legislative framework for personal insolvency aimed at enabling Government's objectives in this regard to be met and allowing more people in distressed debt to access the available mechanisms than has been the case to date. Where a mortgage in arrears is deemed to be unsustainable by the lender the mortgage to rent scheme, administered by my colleague, Alan Kelly, TD, Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government may be a viable alternative which will enable families to remain in the family home and his Department are examining the possibilities for more throughput via this mechanism. The effective management of the mortgage arrears issue is an area that remains under continuous review. More and concerted action can be undertaken by the banks to assist customers in arrears. As the Deputy is aware the Taoiseach has previously announced that the Government is considering a range of options to support the existing framework and to improve the uptake of personal insolvency solutions. Given the importance of the issue, his Department is co-ordinating the response across the various Government Departments and agencies and I anticipate that a detailed announcement will be forthcoming shortly.
