Mr. Gerard O'Brien:

It relates to and adds to the Cathaoirleach's question. We have been talking about clients who are in arrears. As outlined by Mr. Joyce, the repossession process has traditionally been very slow. There are county registrars and if a borrower is making any effort at all, a county registrar is very slow to give an order for repossession of a house. That is without question and has been going on for years. There has been a series of adjournments. Notwithstanding that, what we are looking at here now, particularly with increased interest rates, is the probable impact this will have on people who have already restructured their finances and are in an alternative repayment arrangement. The purpose of these arrangements are to return that person to solvency. They could be voluntary and done through a MABS dedicated mortgage adviser who are there under the Abhaile scheme.

There are also statutory arrangements under the personal insolvency legislation. People can only go through a personal insolvency practitioner and obtain a statutory personal insolvency arrangement once in their lifetime. If, as a result of a big increase in interest rates, people are unable to keep up the arrangement, they cannot have another one. That is one thing that is coming up.

Many restructured arrangements, by their nature, were put in place taking into account the affordability of the client at the time. They were sustainable because they could afford them. The impact is on arrears on previously performing alternative repayment arrangements, that is, restructured loans. That is what is happening. This is making previously affordable arrangements where the borrower or borrowers were returned to solvency unaffordable and they are now insolvent. The effect of that on the human condition is distress for the client.