Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Despite many promises and commitments to the contrary, the Government has failed abysmally to deal with the mortgage crisis effectively. There has been a clear lack of urgency, a lack of any commitment to radical action and, indeed, the Government's whole behaviour and response to the mortgage arrears crisis has been one of chronic inactivity. Mr. Matthew Elderfield is clearly becoming very frustrated with the banks. He has said that the scale of the problem has overwhelmed the banks and he is extremely concerned about systems and the absence of expertise within the banks to deal with the issue. Despite the Government's commitments and promises, there are now over 75,000 homeowners unable to pay their mortgage after 90 days, which is 10.5% of homeowners in Ireland. The comparable figure across the United Kingdom is 2.5%.

Clearly, this has been allowed to drag on for far too long. While the mortgage crisis obviously has a very severe impact on the individuals and families concerned, it has a further impact on the wider economy in terms of jobs and a very debilitating impact on economic activity and any sense of dynamic whatsoever. The lack of transactions in the mortgage market is having a massively negative impact.

There is the issue in regard to those in arrears. The other side of the coin, of course, is that there are people out there who can actually afford to buy houses and who have good credit histories but, again, they are not being facilitated by the banks to buy homes and thereby create significant activity within the market and have a wider impact on the economy. There is the issue of interest rates, in particular at Permanent TSB, a State-owned bank which is charging higher interest rates than others while its customers are stuck. They want a fair rate, not for the debt to be written off.

When can we expect real and decisive intervention by the Government to stem this, deal with the issue and resolve both the personal issues of the people involved and the wider economic situation?

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