Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Bank of Ireland does not have figures for the legal letters issued, although the other banks provided that information. When the representatives were asked for the information, their response was that they do not consider it a long-term solution. It would have been more helpful to give us the figure we sought while adding the caveat that they do not regard it as a long-term solution.

If we take a broad comparison with the other banks and the letters they issued to initiate or threaten legal proceedings, it would not be unreasonable to suggest a figure of 4,000 to 5,000. If that is true, it means the total number of legal proceedings and letters threatening legal proceedings is approximately 8,700. The representatives might provide an estimate of the number of repossessions that Bank of Ireland is likely to complete. I am very surprised that a bank which is initiating thousands of legal proceedings that may ultimately end up with repossession has not made an estimate in this regard. However, a reasonably conservative estimate is that one in five legal proceedings will end up in repossession. That would suggest a total repossession figure of approximately 1,700. Does that jar significantly with what Bank of Ireland expects?