Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will raise the Deputy’s concerns with the Minister, who will have time to read over the debate. He is sorry he could not be here. The Deputy asked whether the restructures were working. The review shows that 83% of restructures are meeting their terms and my evidence as a Deputy matches it. That would generally mean they are working. I have had very few people coming back to me who are in difficulty with a restructured arrangement. Naturally, they try to have the mortgages restructured at a level they can manage. Most cases we are dealing with in our offices are ones for which there is not yet a restructured arrangement. The Deputy is right that we need to keep an eye on it.

The idea of the restructures, in some cases, is to find a long-term solution, and it may involve adding arrears to the capital. It is also about making the mortgage sustainable in the short term, reducing the person’s monthly mortgage payment, giving him or her a chance, hopefully, to get a job and try to get back into it. We must watch it. The guidelines are very clear that repossession of the family home is a last resort, and it is wrong of the Deputy to say tens of thousands of people will be homeless as a result of repossessions in the new year. This is inflaming the situation. While there are difficult situations, there are rules to deal with them. There is always room to improve the scheme.

See this speech in context