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

Not only do I take on board the very relevant points made by the Deputy, and she is absolutely right to highlight this matter to the House, I very much hope AIB take them on board. It would be very useful if AIB clarified the matter on foot of the very constructive remarks made by Deputy Phelan in the House. It would bring some clarity to the issue.

These issues will only be resolved on a case-by-case basis and it will depend on the level of indebtedness. My understanding from the Department of Finance's perspective is we are only speaking about people in personal dwellings and it does not involve investment properties. This is an important message to send out.

When the Government had to recapitalise the banks, provision was made for this and there was always going to be a circumstance where some form of partial write-down would have to be part of the mix of solutions, depending on the indebtedness of individuals and the circumstances, and whether in a forbearance test they were able to pay back in a circumstance where a solution could be found. The task of the Government has been to get onto the banks to get this done. Clear targets have been set by the Central Bank as I stated in my remarks. It is now the task of the banks to achieve these targets. This is the focus of the Government. There was always going to be a mix of solutions.

However, I accept the point the Deputy raises that for those who are trying to get a workable solution to the banks and who then hear willy-nilly of what I understand to be a small number of cases, in which some kind of debt write-down has been given as part of the solution, a more substantive statement by the bank or possibly the bank's involvement in a parliamentary committee setting out the circumstances would be of general assistance. The point made by Deputy Ann Phelan is absolutely on the money. People need to know these things and customers who are dealing with the bank and who are having difficulty in arriving at a solution also need to hear this. Consequently, I echo her remarks.

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