Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, informed the Cabinet last week that this might be coming down the tracks as an issue. We were not given any details as none are yet available and there was no Cabinet decision on the matter. It was solely for information. The Bill being sponsored by the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, is at an advanced point and is being taken up by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, as a Government Bill. It will form part of the legislation the Government will pilot through the Dáil and Seanad and will require judges to have regard to the family situation of someone who may be facing repossession and the loss of a home.

Deputy Howlin characterised split mortgages very well. It is where someone with a mortgage of €250,000, for example, continues to pay a mortgage on €150,000 while the other €100,000 is warehoused for a period of time to be repaid at a later stage. I understand the single supervisory mechanism, SSM, considers those loans to be non-performing notwithstanding the fact that to Deputy Howlin's mind and to mine the person is making his or her best effort to pay back as much as he or she can. The loan is at least partially performing rather than non-performing. However, the rules are made by the SSM. While some people may regard those regulations as too strict, we should not forget where we have come from. It is only ten or 12 years since financial regulation which was too lax and too light-touch led us to an enormous property crash and financial crisis. If financial regulations are going to be relaxed to go back to looser, lighter regulation, which I understand from Deputy Howlin's contribution is the Labour Party proposal, it should only happen after careful consideration. We must ensure it is the right decision with regard to the future.

As I explained earlier, it is not possible for the Government to issue instructions to the banks. That is illegal under the relationship framework which was part of the whole agreement around recapitalising the banks. While it is not possible for us to instruct banks, this bank is 75% owned by the State. That matters and it makes a difference. It means the bank is required to consult with the Minister for Finance before advancing a sale. We are nowhere near that point yet and we have an opportunity over the next number of weeks to put in place any additional advisable protections.

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