Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Donnelly for agreeing with the four principles I set out in my speech on Tuesday, for what I believe is the way forward, now that we have come out of the bailout, jobs are being created and the economy is growing again. Over the next couple of years we have to ask for whom is this recovery. As far as I and the Government are concerned, recovery is not just a matter of getting the numbers right but of making sure it becomes real for people.

We have to cast our minds back to where we were three years ago when the Bank of Ireland shares were bought. The banks were at the point of collapse. Nobody wanted to buy shares in an Irish bank. As part of the recapitalisation of the banks the State invested €4.8 billion in Bank of Ireland. That investment has performed well from the State’s point of view, and €6 billion has been returned to the State through sales and guarantee fees. In addition, the State’s ownership of 14% of Bank of Ireland shares is valued at €1.5 billion.

The Government expects all banks to deal fairly with mortgage holders and those in distress. The most recent Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures show, for the first time in five years, a drop in the number of people in arrears of more than 90 days. That is a welcome turn and I would like to see it continue. Approximately 86,000 mortgages have been restructured. Just short of 80% of those restructures are holding. We expect the Bank of Ireland, like every other institution, to deal on a case-by-case basis, and fairly, with people in mortgage arrears and difficulty. The Government will continue to pursue that policy with the banks and through the Central Bank.

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