Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is accepted nationally and internationally that the scale of mortgage arrears continues to be a major problem, and is one that impedes our economic development and impacts socially on the lives of tens of thousands of people the length and breadth of the country. The Government's approach has been to introduce a mortgage arrears code of conduct in which it gave a veto to the banks. The alternative Fianna Fáil Party policy was to establish an independent mortgage resolution office, but the Government did not buy into that policy. Some considerable time later, we now see that the code of conduct for mortgage arrears is not working and is not serving the interests of borrowers.

A very interesting report was published today by the Central Bank. It examined the activities of seven lenders and found they are in breach of the code of conduct. Can the Taoiseach tell us what he is going to do about that? What actions will the Government take to ensure that the banks comply with the code of conduct? In the past the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, has said there are no sanctions that can be applied to banks if they do not co-operate with the code of conduct. Yet, those same banks are currently trying to recruit new mortgage holders. It is, therefore, in the interests of current mortgage holders that some penalties are applied to the banks which breach the code of conduct. It is also in the interests of those who draw down mortgages from these lenders to know the culture of the lender with which they will deal. Will the Government ensure that banks which have breached the code of conduct are named and shamed and that some penalty is imposed on them?

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