Mr. Ross Maguire:

If the banks were to permit the borrower to purchase the property at the discounted rate, they reckon it would have to be done right across their books, which is the problem. It seems terribly unfair in circumstances where the borrower could afford the restructured mortgage. There are three categories of defaulting loans, with the first the loans that will fix themselves through the recovering economy. The second group comprises loans that are being restructured by the banks and, as Deputy Mathews has argued, many of these are potentially nuts. The banks do not know what to do with the third category of loans. They are substantial in number and somebody must think outside the box in order to deal with them. The idea of putting 20,000 or 30,000 families out of their home does not make any sense.