Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

With the agreement of the House I will share some of Deputy Dowds's time.

The issue of negative equity is raised at my clinics and in constituency queries to me and to other Deputies. A number of Deputies have tabled parliamentary questions to the Minister for Finance requesting updates on what action is being taken to help people in negative equity. Not all people in negative equity will need to be provided for by the financial institutions but the provisions currently do not cater for all the kinds of cases that have arisen. In reply to my parliamentary question the Minister stated there had not been a significant number of inquiries to the Central Bank about negative equity mortgages. Time has moved on since I asked that question.

I refer to an article in the Sunday Business Post on 4 March. It reported that two banks, the Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB, were offering negative equity mortgages. The article mentioned that the products being offered by those banks might have limited application and may not be relevant to all types of negative equity cases in which people might need assistance from the banks. Experts did not think there would be a significant take-up of these negative equity mortgages because the products have limited application and these type of mortgages would not be attractive to either the lender or the customer.

I have encountered varied cases. I cite the example of a couple who bought a house and who then separated but they are still owners of a house in negative equity. Neither party can move on, buy another property and continue with their lives. Another example is a person who relocated to another part of the country, is in negative equity in a ghost estate and is now unemployed. Such a person is stuck in that situation. Those of us who represent commuter areas know that many people bought houses outside their own area in places like Athlone and Carlow but they may now work in Dublin. They are in negative equity and they are unable to move out of their situation. The people who contacted me have not had a resolution of their case from the banks. I advise people to engage with the banks and hope that the situation can be improved.

The issue of negative equity is a social issue and the Government must do something about it; more needs to be done in this regard. It is not enough to advise people to engage with the banks. People in negative equity need a clear pathway so that they can move out of that situation, either to stay in their homes or to move on to another home.

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