Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

There is a lack of urgency in this regard. Arrears are growing by the day. People are getting farther and farther into debt and the response is not dealing with it.

The Department has a role here in terms of mortgage interest supplement. There is a review that has been ongoing since I came into this position opposite the then Minister for Social and Family Affairs. We are spending €70 million on this. Effectively, the Department is handing this cheque to the financial institutions. They are now telling customers to seek a mortgage interest supplement and then they will re-negotiate. When will the review on mortgage interest supplements be completed? Approximately one third of cases are being refused. We do not have definite figures from the Minister. We need the review so that we can have a real discussion on how this operates and link that in to the overall debt issue. When will we see that review?

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