Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I remember when I used to sit where Deputy Martin is now and I would get no answer at all from the Government as there is no requirement to make any answer about Cabinet sub-committees. It is an important issue and I have indicated to Deputies that there can be a series of priority questions regarding particular issues.

With regard to Deputy Higgins's contribution, we are talking about the recovery of the economy. The number of people in work is increasing and the number of people on the live register has been decreasing for 20 consecutive months. That is helping a number of people get out of their mortgage difficulties and provide the opportunity to make progress. I have given the figures to Deputy McDonald. There is a modest recovery in house prices, so that will lessen negative equity, although it does not apply all over the country by any means. It is a small but welcome development.

Deputy Higgins is well aware that at the height of the so-called Celtic tiger we were building 100,000 houses when we needed 30,000 houses per year but we are now building 6,500 houses when we need 25,000 or 30,000 houses per year. To get to a point where we can catapult this goal into action, we must consider where planning permissions were issued that are not suitable for building, where other planning permissions are under consideration and the requirement for good contractors to be able to have a stream of income so as to develop a site and build houses. That requires a lending opportunity from a lender or lenders. There is clearly much pressure for detached and family houses in the greater Dublin area and that will be the focus of housing discussions here and at a special Cabinet meeting I called for next week.

The Deputy specifically mentioned the IBRC. There are legal requirements to maximise the returns in all these cases and at the end of May there were 17,411 residential loans in IBRC outstanding to 13,000 customers. Taxpayers have already incurred far too high a price from this bank and no further costs should be imposed on them. It is important to note that the special liquidators have confirmed that all borrowers are permitted to pay their mortgage at par value and there are no legislative barriers to that. If the bids received are not in excess of the valuation set out, the portfolio will be sold to NAMA. As I indicated to Deputy McDonald, in two previous cases in 2012 and 2013, the full compliance not only of the contracts applicable to the mortgages but also the extra code of conduct requirements set up by the Central Bank were adhered to. The latest interested group has stated clearly that it wishes to be regulated and voluntarily submitted to abide by the codes of conduct if it ends up completing the acquisition. That is the interests of everybody.

The position with regard to repossessions is very clear and I do not accept at all the Deputy's scaremongering tactics and argument that people will have investigators outside the back door telling them to move because the house is in negative equity or the mortgage holder is in arrears. If the bids are not received to value, NAMA will acquire these loans, and it complies completely with codes of conduct. Repossession is the last resort, and as I stated in response to an earlier questions, the vast majority of cases have been voluntarily submitted, as distinct from being a decision of the court. People make up their minds when they identify in their particular circumstances what is the best course of action.

As the Minister for Social Protection has often pointed out, the fact that a person in a household is working allows for a solution to be brought about. The banks have set targets to offer people sustainable solutions by the end of the year and we want to keep the pressure on. This will be the subject of discussions at our forthcoming meeting.

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