Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I welcome the comments of the Governor of the Central Bank and how seriously he is taking his position. The decision by Danske Bank, which is a Danish bank, was in respect of a write-down of National Irish Bank, which is clearly the decision of the bank. This is of the most serious concern to the people who face this on a daily basis. Every Deputy comes across cases on a weekly basis where this stress is causing a problem for families and individuals. The Keane report, the new initiatives, the Government's decision in respect of mortgage interest, the decision to go down the road of a personal insolvency Bill, which will be published in June, the plan and its structure from each bank and lender, which will be worked through with the Central Bank and presented to the regulator, are all of the utmost importance. I refer to the necessity to do this as quickly as possible. The stress tests in respect of banks here, to which Deputy Ross referred, will not be conducted in the autumn but in conjunction with other stress tests for other banks in European countries at the same time. In this way, no one bank will be singled out for stress tests this autumn as against others in the spring of next year.

The trade down mortgages, the split mortgages, mortgages to lease and to rent and the selling of houses are all matters of the gravest concern to the Government. Far from the assertion that nothing is happening, we are acutely concerned at the scale of this and the impact on the social well-being of our people. It essentially boils down to sitting face-to-face with borrowers in respect of their individual circumstances in order to work out a solution in their best interests and in the interests of sorting out an opportunity for them to retain their home, meet their commitments and get on with their lives. It will not happen in a uniform sense and, in order for it to happen, we must have the accuracy with regard to the nature and categories of the problems. From a Government point of view, pressure is on the banks to get on with this. The banks are working with the Central Bank and the regulator with the same intent.

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