Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak on this very important motion which raises the very serious issue of mortgage distress. Based on my experience as a young mother in the early 1980s, I remember all too well how difficult it was when my husband lost his job and we were left with a huge mortgage and young children. I remember the turmoil, sleepless nights and the worry that tomorrow, we might not be able to pay next month's mortgage repayment and stay in our home.

The statistics are alarming. A total of 94,500 mortgages from private dwellings are in arrears for over 90 days, while 23,500 mortgages are in arrears for over 720 days. The Government is well aware of current events. It is not a laughing matter. It involves people's lives and homes. A home is not just bricks and mortar. It is what happens inside those walls that matters. This is a very stressful time for many young people and many people who have lost their jobs. We should not use it in this Chamber to badger each other. We should use it to solve the problems out there.

Perhaps the Minister might take the following matter into consideration. All of the banks have a responsibility to customers and must engage with borrowers right from the start. They cannot bring them in and make fools of them. Mortgage holders cannot deal with any further mortgage interest rates or distress. It is difficult enough for them to pay what they can at the moment. I am very concerned that people struggling to make their payments who want to switch to interest-only mortgages are being financially penalised by their banks. A total of 37% of the restructuring accounts are on interest-only arrangements. A young man rang me today to tell me he had incurred a charge of €700 through switching to an interest-only mortgage and deferring his payments for three months due to financial difficulties. The bank called it a credit cost increase. I have not heard of this but then I am not a financial wizard like some people in here. If that is true, certain banks are able to put even more pressure on people. These are banks that are supposed to be sitting down with people and trying to sort out and help them through their difficulties. The banks should not forget that they were helped out of the mess they were in.

They should not now turn on those ordinary borrowers, the small borrowers and the young people - not the big sharks - who bought into an outrageous market. The banks are charging those people €700 to switch to an interest-only mortgage deferred over three months and are calling it a credit cost increase. I find this very difficult to understand and I ask the Minister of State to address that point.

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