Mr. Gary Tobin:

Looking at the review of the CCMA carried out by the Central Bank, I refer to figures Nos. 3 and 4 on pages 37 and 39 of that publication. They show the various arrangement categories for banks and non-banks. As the Deputy will be aware, some of the arrangements include interest only and term extensions, among other options. There are a whole variety of arrangements put in place by the banks and the non-banks, and arrears capitalisation is used by both. I have not seen the submission from MABS to the committee and so cannot specifically comment on it, but it is clear that banks and non-banks are choosing to put in place a variety of arrangements. They may choose to implement certain arrangements in different numbers, which may in itself reflect the fact that some of the non-banks tend to be dealing with people in very long-term arrears in many cases. This reflects the fact that the loan portfolios that are sold are made up of this type of customer. A different arrangement might be put in place for that type of situation than would be put in place for a customer with fewer arrears.

Looking at the latest repossession statistics, the banks are repossessing many more properties than the non-banks. The CCMA review carried out by the Central Bank said that it did not see an obvious difference in the treatment of mortgage arrears cases between the banks and the non-banks.