Mr. Shane O'Sullivan:

The concept came about in recent years when the Central Bank led a multi-debt pilot, as it was called. Essentially, it was attempting to provide some hope and backup for people who had arrears on multiple accounts, whether mortgages, current accounts or car loans with different banks. It is difficult enough to work through one arrears account with one bank, never mind multiple accounts with multiple banks.

The model exists in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The purpose of the pilot was to see how it could work in Ireland. I am not too familiar to the exact details of the tendering process but Irish parties would have participated in the tender process along with StepChange, which is a UK debt charity. In the heel of the hunt, StepChange was the winner of the tender or other parties withdrew - I cannot remember the detail exactly but it arose through an objective tendering process, as far as I am aware.

The good news is that it will provide an independent service to Irish customers who are multi-debted. The Irish banks are making a contribution to the funding of the model. The company, StepChange, is a charity, a not-for-profit enterprise. It is a welcome development. The more we can put such tools and services in place, the better for all.