Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply.

I raise briefly the mortgage position of the Priory Hall home owners in my constituency. I ask the Minister of State to intervene with the various lending institutions and seek to arrange for these mortgages to be frozen as at the date of the Priory Hall evacuation on 17 October 2011 until a solution is found. Collectively, the residents in Priory Hall are approximately €1 million further in debt today than they were at the time of the evacuation in October 2011. Their average mortgage is now approximately €20,000 in arrears and the amounts outstanding will continue to rise as the matter drags on indefinitely. Priory Hall home owners are considerably distressed by the fact that lending institutions are seeking payment of the accrued interest and capital as part of the monthly repayments should a solution be found, as the average mortgage will increase by approximately €250 a month, a sum that many residents will not be in a position to pay, thus leading to possible repossession on top of the stress associated with the loss of their homes. There is also considerable distress and concern among the Priory Hall residents about their credit ratings, given the large arrears.

The banks are dealing with them as they would deal with a normal customer in mortgage arrears. However, I believe they represent a special case in that they are prohibited from living in their homes, and their arrears may be recorded with the Irish Credit Bureau, thus affecting their future credit rating. This is distressing for them as they may not be in a position to avail of future credit for family homes, cars, and school and college fees if their credit rating is downgraded. It is unconscionable that this further punishment would be inflicted on the entirely blameless families who have already been punished enough. The State-capitalised banks should set the example for all the other mortgage providers and freeze the mortgages at the balance owed at the time they lost their homes, and it should remain frozen until a solution is found.

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