Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 10 is broadly the same as the amendment of Deputy Donnelly and somewhat similar to the amendment of Deputy Collins. Essentially, we are asking that before a judge would rule for repossession, he should be mindful of several points. He should be clear that the Central Bank code of conduct on mortgage arrears has been followed and that supporting evidence of that is provided.

Similarly, a judge should be mindful of whether the mortgagee has been reasonable in terms of the personal insolvency practitioner, that is, if proposals had been submitted, was it reasonable for the bank to reject those proposals. The third element pertains to whether provision was made for an appeal to the bank's decision and whether there was further engagement. The final issue concerns the impact of negative equity. I am not convinced of the point made that a bank would only seek repossession where there was not negative equity and the fourth point tries to deal with that.