Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentation. I am still trying to work my way through this substantial amount of information. Our view is that we need write-downs because forbearance, restructuring and the various models the bank is developing or has put in place are not enough to deal with the issue of mortgage arrears. The witnesses have made it clear that write-downs are not on the agenda. Can they justify that position? The figures we have been given, which show that the bank is getting an additional 1,400 requests for forbearance each month, indicate that the mortgage crisis is getting worse. More and more people are encountering trouble and asking for help. Although many people are already in trouble and the crisis is getting worse, we are continuing to approach this problem on a piecemeal basis rather than looking for a radical solution that could take this albatross from around people's necks, get them out of trouble and boost the economy. We all know that the level of mortgage distress is operating as a huge macroeconomic dampener on the economy. Can the witnesses tell me why it is better to take a piecemeal individual approach, involving restructuring and forbearance, than to adopt our approach of writing down to current market value the unsustainable debt that was incurred during the period of the property boom caused by developers and banks? If our approach was pursued, how much would it cost? On the basis of the bank's figures - we have been told that the volume of negative equity is approximately €6.8 billion and that €1.9 billion of that is currently impaired - I estimate that the additional cost of writing down the negative equity would be approximately €5 billion. Is it not the case that the bank has been recapitalised to do that? The Irish banks are probably among the most recapitalised institutions in Europe. Why can this not just be done? It would help distressed mortgage holders and the economy at the same time. If we string it out, it will act as a continuous burden on people in an unsustainable situation and damage the prospects for economic recovery.