Ms Noeline Blackwell:

I wish to add to that with regard to what one must do to achieve consistency. One of the things about the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation model is that there is expertise for the borrowers and trained people in the banks. The IMHO goes to the same people time and again on an agreed model. That is not the experience of FLAC. Over 3,000 people contacted FLAC last year through our centres and telephone lines in utter frustration at the lack of professionalism in the way they were being dealt with. Even when we look at those cases we find it impossible to get the banks to grapple with the reality, because one is dealing with different people all the time.

There is an absence of proper support for borrowers. The only support available at present is an accountant, once the bank has made its offer, to explain the ramifications of that offer after it has been made. What is required is proper support going through the system from financial advisers and legal advisers, a model whereby MABS and the Legal Aid Board are properly supported to give that advice to people who cannot afford it. Absent that, people do not know what they are doing. They make bad decisions, and they do so because they are talking about the roofs over their heads. We have been pushing this angle for years. It is extraordinary that people are being asked to do this on their own. One sees how it can be done differently. It need not cost the State because the lender could and should pay for it. It is in the interest of the lender to pay for it because, ultimately, they get a better solution.