Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister. The MABS does very good work and is to be commended, particularly given the difficult environment in which it now operates. That said, there is a need for a new or different level of expertise within the MABS organisation. Will the Minister give consideration to the idea of allowing the MABS to employ people with expertise in dealing with financial institutions to discuss the issue of loans and possible repossessions? This is a matter that has been brought to my attention repeatedly recently. I encountered an example this morning of someone over whom the threat of repossession hangs but who will be obliged to wait for eight weeks before being able to make an appointment with the MABS because the latter is so busy at present. There is a real need to have a division of MABS that can negotiate with financial institutions because agreements can be reached that would help people. However, the organisational capacity is not necessarily there, certainly not nationwide, to be able to so do for people at present. While the Minister cannot necessarily agree to this today, has she given consideration to this possibility or has she been approached to examine this issue?

In a related topic, the Minister probably is aware that people who avail of the moratorium on their mortgage repayments will have their credit rating damaged as a result, despite the Government's announcement. Has the Minister considered examining this issue to ensure that people's credit rating will not be damaged as a result?

See this speech in context