Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
248. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the number of residential mortgages here that are classified as sub-prime; the number of sub-prime lenders operating in the market; the value of sub-prime mortgages outstanding; the rate of arrears on these mortgages; the actions specific to the sub-prime sector which are being taken to address arrears; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33803/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been informed by the Central Bank of Ireland that it does not separately identify sub-prime mortgages in their collected or published statistics. As part of the quarterly Residential Mortgage Arrears, Restructures & Repossession Statistics, the Central Bank collects data from all institutions who have issued mortgages. The aggregate statistics are broken down into three sub-groups, namely, Banks, Retail Credit Firms and Unregulated Loan Owners. A detailed break-down of the number and value of accounts held by each sub-group is available in the Central Bank's most recent mortgage arrears publication. A list of authorised credit institutions and retail credit firms is published on the Central Bank website.
Various lenders offer loans where the interest rate is higher than that generally charged in the market. Although these lenders are commonly referred to as ‘sub-prime lenders’, there is no such regulated category as ‘sub-prime lender’. All authorised lenders are subject to the Consumer Protection framework, including the Central Bank’s statutory Consumer Protection Code and the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (‘CCMA’).
