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

I thank the Deputy for his question. As the Deputy is aware, the Government has put in place a broad strategy to address the problem of mortgage arrears and family home repossessions. The primary focus of this strategy is to support those home owners in difficulty with their mortgage repayments and, in so far as possible, to avoid repossession of the family home.

The Central Bank of Ireland's code of conduct on mortgage arrears sets out requirements for mortgage lenders dealing with borrowers facing or in mortgage arrears on their primary residence and provides a strong consumer protection framework to ensure that borrowers struggling to keep up mortgage repayments are treated in a fair and transparent manner by their lender and that long-term resolution is sought by lenders with each of their borrowers.

Where a borrower engages with his or her lender, a sustainable restructure arrangement to address his or her mortgage arrears situation is put in place in the majority of cases. The Central Bank's most recent quarterly release on residential mortgage arrears and repossessions, that is, for quarter 4 of 2014, indicates that almost 115,000 restructure arrangements have been put in place.

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A key focus of any forthcoming initiative from the Government will be to ensure that distressed borrowers are fully informed about appropriate supports, how to access them and how these can help. Many borrowers can find solutions through the options offered by the Insolvency Service of Ireland, ISI, and the Government will ensure that the personal insolvency process is as fair and effective as it can be and that the objectives as set out in the Personal Insolvency Act are realised as much as possible. My colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, and her officials are actively preparing amendments to the legislative framework for personal insolvency. This is aimed at enabling the Government's objectives to be met. The aim is to ensure that more people in distressed debt access the available mechanisms than has been the case to date.

Where a mortgage in arrears is deemed to be unsustainable by the lender, the mortgage to rent scheme administered by my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, may be a viable alternative and enable families to remain in the family home. His Department is examining the possibilities for more throughput via this mechanism.

The effective management of the mortgage arrears issue is an issue that remains under continual review. More concerted action can be undertaken by the banks to assist customers in arrears. As the Deputy is aware, the Taoiseach announced that the Government was considering a range of options to support the existing framework and to improve the uptake of personal insolvency solutions. Given the importance of the issue, his Department is co-ordinating the response across various Departments and Government agencies and I anticipate that a detailed announcement will be forthcoming shortly.

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