Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The targets will be verified by the bank by means of audit. As I understand it, whatever arrangement is put in place will have to be operating successfully for six months before it will be signed off by the bank. It is not enough to say the deal has been done, but that the deal has been done and the person with the impaired mortgage has paid on the new schedule for six months. That would be the definition of success.

Some repossessions take place all the time. To date, most have been by voluntary surrender because sometimes it suits people to surrender their home voluntarily and give up. It is the Government’s policy that if at all possible people should remain in their own home. That is why in the Keane report there are a number of options, including split mortgages and the effective take-over of houses by local authorities where the status of the resident changes from owner-occupier to tenant but they still remain in the family home. It will be up to the Central Bank to audit the returns and decide what it regards as a sustainable solution.

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