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

I cannot give deadlines for the work of other Departments. I can assure the Deputy that the work I have outlined is proceeding as a matter of priority in the Departments I spoke about. It is being engaged with as we speak.

The Circuit Court is where repossession orders are usually processed but they are not being actively pursued. To a large degree, the practice is to adjourn. The repossessions that are granted are usually for people who do not contest the repossession order, perhaps because the house is vacant and they have moved on or because it is a rental unit and they have moved on from it and there is no one pressing it. However, to announce a formal moratorium would, in my view, be quite risky for the mortgage market. The basis of mortgage lending is that money is given to somebody to acquire a home on the basis of the home being the collateral. If one removes collateral out of the system, and if the lender in theory and under law can no longer acquire the collateral, then there would be no lending. There would certainly be no new lending as it would just dry up. While the clear signal to the courts was that the policy is to keep people in their own homes, there would be risks if one were to formalise the position.

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