Mr. David Hall:

The misleading narrative put about is that everybody who is in mortgage arrears is a strategic defaulter. That is utterly disrespectful. If there was competency within the consumer protection section of the Central Bank, the question that would be asked of the banks is how many customers have engaged with them. They should be asked how many of their customers have proven to them that they cannot pay their mortgage and whose position the bank has determined is unsustainable, even though they have done everything they could. As we saw with PTSB, people complied and were given restructures. They complied with those restructures but their loans were still sold to vulture funds. We must forget about the messers and those who want to game the system. They will be dealt with in due course. There are many ways to deal with them. This is about the cohort of people who are too scared and who are sitting at home now, petrified. I would urge those who are watching these proceedings today who are in difficulty to get in touch with IMHO, FLAC, MABS, the Insolvency Service or the Phoenix Project. There are many competent and coherent people who work together, who share information and ideas and who can get them the best option available. Sitting at home and sitting on one's hands is no longer an option. There is a cohort of people who have gone the extra mile and engaged. Many lending institutions in the State are sitting down with those people in the full knowledge that their debts are unsustainable. Even if they kept their loans and did not sell them, those people would still lose their homes.