Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Realistic measures to ease the burden of the very group mentioned by the Deputy will be proposed by the commission that has been established to examine this issue. I took my first step in that direction in this year's Finance Act, when I ensured that mortgage interest relief was continued for this group beyond the seven-year period. Representatives of the Irish Banking Federation are on the working group. It is very important that arrangements are devised, as mentioned in the programme for Government, for longer repayment terms, interest-only repayments and delays, where appropriate, in repossession proceedings. All of this must be factored in. That is on what the commission is working.

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