Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My apologies. The reason I have expressed that in such forceful terms is that the Members opposite will be aware from discussions with real people in their constituencies that this is the primary issue that must be tackled this year.

The Government is tackling this issue. We have introduced a suite of measures that will help those who are in this position in a way that is consistent with the policy we have set out. The Members opposite will be aware of the Keane report, which was published in the autumn of 2011. It is the case that the great majority of its recommendations have already been acted upon. At the highest level of Government, we have a Cabinet subcommittee chaired by the Taoiseach, with the Secretary General of the Department of Finance responsible for delivering the implementation of the mortgage arrears strategy. Not since the foundation of the State has there been a radical look at personal insolvency legislation. The Personal Insolvency Act took a significant effort on the part of everyone in this House and the other House to get through, and that is now in place. We now have a specialist mortgage information and advice service, which we did not have previously, with the important staff who will give borrowers the advice and support they need in working out the best solution with the covered institutions that are involved.

Deputy Troy and others spoke of their disappointment about the mortgage-to-rent scheme. The fact is there have been 37 cases thus far, but there are a total of 735 cases under the existing scheme, and I hope we can make progress on those. On split mortgages, Deputy Michael McGrath raised this by way of a Topical Issue matter, at which time I told him that in the first quarter of this year the evidence from many of the banks was that this option was now being worked through. That is something to be welcomed.

Crucially, we have set with the Central Bank clear targets for each of the institutions - I refer to ACC, AIB, Bank of Ireland, KBC Ireland Bank, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank - with regard to proposed solutions that must be put in place. As the Members opposite will be aware, the banks should have proposed sustainable mortgage solutions for 20% of distressed borrowers by the end of June this year, 30% by September and 50% by the end of the year. As I understand it, we will know in the next two to three weeks whether we have hit our target in the first tranche of proposed solutions by the end of June. That is a position the Central Bank will make known in due course, as it has the responsibility of ensuring that these targets have been set with the banks.

The Government is determined that those targets be adhered to. This is an issue upon which the entire economy is based - not merely people's livelihoods, but their future, their homes, the future of their children. This is an issue upon which the economy depends, because until we resolve this issue we will not see any improvement in the domestic economy due to the fact that a group of people are effectively locked out of it.

I assure the House, irrespective of the points that have been made by the Opposition, that the Government is focused on what it needs to do. This is the primary target and responsibility on which the Government has to deliver this year. We have got to deliver on our targets this year. The banks know that, the Department of Finance knows that, and the Central Bank knows that. As far as we are concerned, we will be judged at the end of the year on the targets that have been set and whether they have been achieved.

Whether additional measures will be countenanced is, obviously, an issue that we will keep under review. That would be the sensible course of action. However, we need to get to a point at which these cases are moved on. The suite of options is there. It is now a matter for the banks to deliver on that and we are determined that the banks will deliver on their side of the equation.

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