Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process: (Resumed) Ulster Bank

4:30 pm

Mr. Stephen Bell:

The question is whether it is the right solution for the customer. For many customers, a short-term arrangement can be the permanent long-term solution if they only have a temporary issue. If, for example, a customer contacts us to tell us that there has been a death in the family which has put strain on the household finances, we are very happy to put a six month moratorium in place. That fixes the problem permanently even though it is a short-term solution. There is a danger of misreading short-term solutions as being short-term fixes.