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

The banks do not have a veto and will engage with persons who have impaired mortgages in a number of different circumstances, which of course, they do already. There will be face-to-face informal contact between banks and persons with impaired mortgages, which can take the form of speaking to the bank manager or the person who arranged the mortgage in the first instance. Although this is face-to-face informal contact, there is a code of conduct on contact developed by the Central Bank, which is now being modified. The exchanges will be governed by this. A person will not be entirely on his or her own. MABS has up to 2,500 qualified accountants on its books who are available to help people in exchanges with their lenders.

The second area is more formal and this will be under the remit of the insolvency legislation. The director of the insolvency service, who was appointed in October, will make a public announcement on 27 March launching the service. He has retained and employed a cohort of personal insolvency practitioners. Under the Act they will formally be available to persons with impaired mortgages to work out matters. The banks do not have a veto, because if they do not agree to an arrangement under the insolvency service their position will worsen if a person drifts into bankruptcy. There is no veto.

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