Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Mathews for his excellent contribution, which certainly got to the nub of many of the issues. I have a few specific points on which I seek answers. In its annual growth survey, the Commission proposed ensuring a balanced approach to foreclosures in the case of mortgage lending while protecting vulnerable households and preventing banks' balance sheets from becoming overburdened. Today is the closing date for submissions on the Central Bank of Ireland's code of conduct regarding mortgage arrears. One huge difficulty with it is that the code will apply only to banks regulated by the aforementioned Central Bank. In this country, at least a quarter of the people have mortgages with institutions that are not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and this will be of no relevance to them. Consequently, the witnesses' presence today is highly relevant in that regard. What is being proposed in respect of this issue by the European Commission and the European Union, possibly in the context of a single supervisory body? Will the issue of mortgage arrears be dealt with centrally or will it simply be left to be dealt with on an ad hoc basis? I accept it is a failing on the part of the Government not to legislate for all banks in the country, which I believe it has the power to do. It certainly intends to legislate to allow repossessions of properties and this will apply to all the banks and financial institutions operating in the country. However, the aforementioned code of conduct, for which today is the closing date for submissions, does not even apply to the former Irish Nationwide Building Society. That constitutes the height of ludicrousness and I seek the European Commission's view in this regard because Irish Nationwide is not now classified as a bank and is not regulated by the Central Bank in its new form. This is a huge failing and it is a failing of the European Union not to have a common approach on this issue. I certainly have not heard a great deal of discussion on this issue at European level, although I would like to be corrected in this regard by the witnesses.

On the role of public banks and guaranteed institutions in lending to SMEs, about which Mr. Nagarajan spoke, the present Administration included in its programme for Government a proposal for a strategic investment bank, which is along those lines. However, nothing has happened in this regard. The Commission has published this worthy document, which I consider to be quite a good document overall, although I agree it may not be very practical in some ways. What is the view of the European Commission when it proposes something that member states have already stated they will do but then do not bother doing or do not implement at all? What is the view from Brussels in this regard?