Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I believe that with all the focus in the last week or so understandably having been on the Anglo tapes, the revised code of conduct and the latest mortgage arrears statistics have not received the attention they deserve. More than 142,000 families are in mortgage arrears on the family home at present. This is a national crisis that deserves a decisive response. In his reply, the Minister outlined that under the mortgage arrears targets programme, 20% of those in arrears were to be offered sustainable solutions by the end of June 2013. These sustainable solutions can involve being put on interest-only repayments, putting someone into insolvency or the voluntary surrender of the property. Many of them will not, by definition, represent genuine long-term restructuring of the mortgage.

The Minister's reply refers to the reporting arrangements. Will Members receive information at the end of each of the those milestones, namely, the 20% and 30% targets, as to what is being offered? While I do not expect such detail by bank, will Members be informed that X percentage received an offer of a split mortgage, while Y percentage is being put into insolvency? While this is the responsibility of the Central Bank, such information is critical because the banks are becoming increasingly aggressive with people on the ground. This is being facilitated by the change in the law concerning repossession, by the removal of the limit on the number of unsolicited contacts, by the tracker rate now being on the table for the first time and by the removal of the moratorium at 12 months. Moreover, if one is deemed to be non-co-operative, the banks now can move immediately. They are becoming more aggressive and while all Members accept they also must face up to the crisis, my difficulty is that the banks are firmly in control. They are in the driving seat and decide what is a sustainable solution. They decide who is or is not non-co-operative. Many people wish to work through their situation and are in genuine financial distress.

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