Mr. Lorcan O'Connor:

What I can point to is the fact that we know there are about 37,000 mortgages in more than 720 days arrears. By all accounts that equates to about 30,000 families or borrowers as some borrowers may have two mortgages on the same property. The banks would say that in a large number of those cases there is a lack of engagement and that is the only reason it has got to 720 days of arrears. Clearly, there is a cohort within that number, probably a large cohort, where engagement is an issue and there is, obviously, the difference between those numbers and the 100,000 or so. I am not suggesting that those 100,000 need an insolvency solution to fix their problems. They may well be able to solve their problems far short of that but certainly those people do need to engage. The primary message should be to engage with one's creditors, those to whom one owes the money in the first instance. If that does not work or if one is not in a position to do that or one owes money to several different creditors so that it is not feasible, then that is exactly when the personal insolvency practitioner, through the ISI, can come to the fore and help the individual.