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

These are Central Bank figures; they are not my figures.

With regard to knocking on the doors of banks internationally, there was reluctance among foreign lenders to get involved in the Irish mortgage market until quite recently for the reasons we all know about, including high levels of arrears and difficulty in collecting. These factors discourage lenders from entering the market, but this is now righting itself as 115,000 mortgages have been reconstructed. There is now an indication that banks and other lenders outside the jurisdiction have an interest in getting into the market.

I did not say I would be meeting the Governor this week; I said I would be receiving the analysis that the Governor promised me. I believe I will have it sometime next week. My private secretary is arranging meetings with senior management of the six institutions that I referred to. I hope I will have seen them by mid-May.

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