Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have had dealings with the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, as have many other Deputies in this room under previous Governments, in relation both to themselves and to constituents who come in to them regarding this issue. I want to register again that I fully endorse the fact that we are in a housing emergency and we still have a tsunami coming down the road in respect of repossessions and evictions if we do not deal with the issues that have been raised here today. I would take cognisance of many of the points made by Mr. Hall and the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation because every single day they are dealing with the issues that have confronted them. They are very complicated issues and I know some of the cases in which the organisation has tried to deal with and to resolve the issues with the banks. The Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation has been at the coalface of trying to understand the workings of the banks and how they process these matters.

The code of conduct is still voluntary. One of the first things this committee can do is to ensure it becomes a legal requirement, that the banks are forced to address split mortgages and mortgage to rent as part of the resolution, because they still have the opportunity to reject them. It is not going to solve the problem but it is an important part of the issue.

In respect of PTSB and AIB and the proposal to look at exactly where the banks have their distressed mortgages, looking at each case and then putting forward that idea to the voluntary organisations and local authorities and having a practical way of doing it, Edmund Honohan said the other day that we need a----- What was it he said? Can any members remember? The point he was making was that we need to deal with it very quickly - it cannot wait. We need a blanket intervention to deal with the issue. This would be part of the process that would help in respect of dealing with those banks.