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

We need the breakdown in aggregate form of the 25,000 sustainable solution offers the Minister said have been made. Under the definition provided in the mortgage arrears resolution targets it is up to the bank to make the call as to what that solution is but it can be interest only. That is fine for those in short-term financial difficulty but it can mean putting somebody into insolvency or handing back the keys to the House. They might be sustainable solutions in one person's definition but in another person's definition that could mean the family home is gone. We need to have the data. Looking at the latest figures to the end of March, the reality is that of the more innovative long-term solutions such as split mortgage or a permanent interest rate reduction, less than 400 have been put through and in the context of 142,000 people actually in arrears with their family home, that is a drop in the ocean.

Progress in this area must be accelerated. We need more data. I hope the Minister's plan works but I have my doubts. I would rather that an independent office had the final say in determining what is a fair solution to a person's mortgage difficulty but the Minister has gone down a certain road. I hope it works but we need the data.

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