Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand that we will have targets shortly, which I welcome. Mr. Moran may comment on that in a moment. I know that Governor Honohan has commented on it and has asked if we should be setting specific targets. I am concerned about one group, however. There are a lot of people in this country who did not get mortgages from banks, but from mortgage companies. We all know the names, they had advertisements on the television at the time and people borrowed excessive sums. They generally were people who were not eligible to get a mortgage even though, during the boom times, mortgages were not that hard to get. Does Mr. Moran have any estimate of how many mortgages held by Irish people fall into that category - that is, mortgages that are not with Irish banks but with mortgage companies?