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

As everybody here knows, when this Government came into office five years ago, the situation in this area was disastrous and it appeared it would not be resolved. Following the putting in place of a series of measures, which have been constantly reviewed, significant progress has been made. It now appears that this is a solvable problem. Over time, as the economy improves, it is solvable.

We have succeeded in bringing about a situation whereby, because of all of the initiatives applicable, there are very few repossessions of family homes. I provided the statistics in this regard in response to a previous question. As far as I can recall there were 420 repossessions last year, 215 of which were voluntary. The number of repossessions is, as I said, very small. The Government policy is that people will remain in their family homes. The restructuring process is working. Some 121,000 mortgages have been restructured, 86% of which are standing up. In other words, the householders can afford the new arrangements and are complying with the new rules. Things are improving. While there may be a small residue over time, which will not be in a position to make new arrangements, as the initiatives continue we would hope that resolutions will be found for them also.

See this speech in context