Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In regard to our earlier request for further information, I will follow on from Deputy O'Donnell's request for a breakdown of the legal proceedings in respect of properties in both positive and negative equity. Ulster Bank is doing debt write-down but it is doing it at the unsecured stage, which is at the post-voluntary surrender or post-repossession stage. Whether the customer is in positive or negative equity, what I am hearing is that the philosophy is that debt write-down will only be given on the basis that the bank gets the house. The colourful phrase is that the pound of flesh for the write-down is that the banks gets the bricks and mortar.