Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Central Bank is the client’s own bank. Obviously, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, has made quite a number of significant changes to the way we are dealing with the live register. The extent of mortgage interest payments - a figure of 50,000 comes to mind - was so high as to keep people out of work, despite the fact that getting them into work is the priority of the Government. I do not want to set out what the agenda of any Cabinet committee should be, nor am I entitled to say. Clearly, however, the discussion centred around these issues and the need to require banks to get on with offering sustainable solutions to people with mortgage problems or in mortgage arrears or distress. The targets I have set out have been met.

In the two cases I have mentioned, in 2012, GE Money acquired 3,500 mortgages and complied fully with the code of conduct and the contractual obligations. The same applied in the case of Lloyds. It acquired 2,000 mortgages. It sold its mortgages to Apollo Global Management and voluntarily committed to honouring the codes of conduct set down by the Central Bank. The Minister for Finance has been very clear about this. It is a complex issue which warrants careful consideration. The Minister has written to the Central Bank outlining his concerns. If the bids do not reach the valuation, they pass to NAMA. NAMA complies fully with both the contractual obligations and codes of conduct set down by the Central Bank. As stated, repossession is the last thought in anybody's mind. The objective is to work out a solution in each case.

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