Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In November 2019, the deputy governor of the Central Bank stated at the national retail banking conference of the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, that "the Central Bank is still having to push banks and non-banks too hard to take a customer centric approach to resolving arrears". He made clear that the Central Bank does not have a preference for loan sales but for sustainably reducing non-performing loans with the multiple tools available. I understand that this is the same as what Ms Howard is saying. The core processes involve the code of conduct on mortgage arrears, CCMA, and the mortgage arrears resolution process, MARP. Under MARP, the lender must explore all options for alternative repayment arrangements. For Ulster Bank, were MARP and the CCMA considered to be requirements, or did it regard them as a set of guidelines that could be sidestepped if it suited?