Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I generally agree with what Deputy McGrath has said. The Central Bank is driving this through the deputy governor and the Financial Regulator, Mr. Matthew Elderfield. A schedule has been drawn up for each of the banks and the banks are co-operating. They have also trained many staff in the banks to deal specifically with this and to engage with customers.

I met the three main banks this morning. They seem to be making some progress, although I would like them to make more progress. There is no agreement about the statistics. One of the banks showed me statistics this morning that said it had made 46 restructuring arrangements of a certain type, rather than 12 - mind you, 46 does not make a lot of difference either. The banks are now talking about 1,500 a month - that kind of pace. They are moving it on.

It is one of the main priorities of the Government this year to make sure this is sorted out. I agree with the Deputy. More focused arrangements must be made by the banks and they have to be ready to make these arrangements.

See this speech in context