Mr. John Hogan:

On mortgage arrears, a great deal of work has been done across the Government and by the Central Bank to ensure that the banks put in place in the first instance appropriate procedures to deal with the type of trend that emerged through 2007 to 2009. The number of people in mortgage arrears has declined steadily. According to the latest Central Bank report, that decline is now in its twelfth or thirteenth consecutive quarter. Within that number, there have been 121,000 restructures, that is, people who have had their mortgages restructured by engaging with their financial institutions. Of those people, 90% are sticking with their restructures.

Breaking down the numbers, the 0% to 90% category has eased considerably from what we saw at the height of the crisis, there is a group in the middle and then there is the longer term category, namely, those who are in two-year plus arrangements. By virtue of interaction or whatever, many of these people are beginning to find themselves in the court system.

The Government has substantially reformed the personal insolvency legislation to give people access, either by formal or informal procedures, to debt resolution mechanisms. The personal insolvency rules have been augmented and changed with the passage of time and experience gained.