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

It is not true to say there is a widespread move across the banks to a repossession strategy. I understand the joint committee will have the banks before it shortly and individual cases can be raised with them. The information we in the Department of Finance have got from the Department of Justice and Equality advises that the number of new civil bills issued for the first two months of 2014 was approximately 450. The Deputy knows well that the issuing of a civil bill is a long way back from repossession. Usually, many of these bills just sit there and are left unprocessed, as there is little repossession in the Irish system. I am glad of that. We do not want houses to be repossessed. It is untrue and it upsets people to suggest that the banks are on a rampage now and are into tens of thousands of repossessions. They are not.

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