Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With regard to promised legislation, I would like to ask about progress on the housing (regulation of approved bodies) Bill. This relates to the various bodies that can undertake the construction of public authority housing or private authority housing. Could the Bill include a provision whereby local authorities could be eligible for consideration as approved bodies?

Another issue that has begun to gain air time recently is the apparent hardening attitude among the banks in respect of outstanding mortgages in particular cases where borrowers have consistently striven to meet their payments. In such cases, they should have been entitled to favourable treatment at this stage, but that has not necessarily been the case. In the context of the Central Bank consolidation Bill, could there be a review of the situation with a view to ensuring borrowers who have made consistent efforts to discharge their debts are given helpful treatment?

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