Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is fine. I will move on to the issue of the Department's revised strategy statement. It is extremely appropriate and highly welcome that it is revising its strategy to reflect the changing times. However, having read some of the goals contained therein, they are ambitious and no one in politics should criticise Departments for having a vision. However, the third goal refers to an improvement in the living standards of our citizens and to a fair resolution of the problems of excess debt of citizens. Obviously, this is a strategy for the period up to 2014 and I struggle to meet many of my constituents who believe they have had or expect in that period of time to have an improved standard of living. The nub of this issue is that, as Mr. Moran quite correctly noted in the statement, it is linked to the need for the fair resolution of the problem of excess debt. The Department's strategy goes on to discuss two areas, namely, distressed mortgages and sustainable levels of personal and mortgage debt. First, how many distressed mortgages are there? For the purposes of clarity, the Secretary General should outline the definition of a distressed mortgage. Thereafter, he should clarify what the Department's estimate of the number of distressed mortgages in Ireland is at present.