Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have made this point to Mr. Hall before, but again I thank his organisation for the assistance it provides to individuals and for the engagement I have had with it, as a public representative, on behalf of constituents. We get an insight into some of the detail of these cases. Other questions will be picked up by my colleagues, but I have one question about when an individual has failed to secure an agreement with his or her bank around a compromise solution. Mr. Hall pointed out that there are a suite of solutions and none of them has to be adhered to by any financial institution. When an individual fails to secure an agreement and the bank issues legal proceedings or suggests the only option is repossession or voluntary surrender, how does Mr. Hall encourage mortgage holders to continue to pay the maximum amount they can pay?

I do not dispute some of the statistics we hear regarding the number of people who have not paid their mortgages for a number of years. When we look more deeply into those facts, we sometimes find that the bank refused to look at debt settlement agreements or other options and instead issued legal proceedings against the mortgage holders. In such circumstances, some borrowers decide to stop paying and to fight their case in the courts on the basis that they are going to lose the house anyway. How does Mr. Hall believe such cases should be dealt with?