Mr. Dermot Sreenan:

First, I want to contextualise the work that is being done by MABS, because that will frame the response to the question. In 2022, MABS helped more than 42,000 people. On clients and calls to the helpline, we had our busiest August on record with the helpline. That puts it into context. This problem has been ongoing for quite some time.

The Abhaile scheme, which the Deputy is familiar with, has dedicated mortgage arrears advisers. It has processed over 13,600 case since it was established in 2016. We are currently experiencing an increase in the numbers trying to access our services, which means that there are service delivery managers who are now taking caseloads because there is a real need for it. It is an all-hands-on-deck situation.

On the Deputy's question on the trajectory we are on in respect of the loans and who actually owns them, the best information we have on that comes from our court mentor system. I ask members to bear with my while I explain it, because not a lot of people understand the intricacies of it. MABS has a representative in every courthouse in all the repossession courts in the country. If people show up there, often the county registrar will direct them to MABS and they become part of the service and we offer them support. Our key message to people when they contact the helpline or whatever is to always show up in court and to engage.

There were 9,763 court possession orders in process last year. The cases could have started much earlier than that, but the court records state clearly that 49% of these orders are owned by nonbanking entities. The figures are as follows: Start Mortgages owns 20%; Pepper Ireland owns 10%; Mars Capital Finance owns 10%; and Promontoria owns 9%.

From talking directly to court mentors, the trajectory is only going upwards because, as we mentioned in our opening statement, the shrinking of the retail banking market means that there are inevitably cases where two of the banks that are exiting that will go into the nonbanking entities. That is the trajectory we are on.

However, I want to say that though MABS is a service that is incredibly busy, it has 30 years experience; I want to assure people listening at home that they should contact MABS. We want engagement from everyone who is receiving a letter from those such as the nonbanking entities because we want to represent these people and advocate for them. We are not part of the problem that we are experiencing now but we are definitely part of the solution because MABS acts in the clients' best interests and we establish what the actual affordability is. That is a really important point. I encourage anyone listening to take that on board. I want that message to go out strongly from this meeting to the general public.