Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise. The State is divided between the Government, the organ of State which exercises executive power, the two Houses of Parliament which comprise the Oireachtas with the President, and the courts.

I will outline the Government's commitment to assist those in mortgage difficulty. It is demonstrated by the establishment of the State-funded Abhaile scheme which seeks to find solutions for those in mortgage arrears by providing them with free independent expert advice and support tailored to their individual circumstances. It includes the identification and negotiation of solutions and support in court if they are facing repossession proceedings. Abhaile has assisted more than 11,000 people with vouchers to avail of free legal aid and financial support since it was established in 2016. The director of the Insolvency Service of Ireland recently highlighted the fact that 95% of personal insolvency arrangements negotiated by personal insolvency practitioners had resulted in people staying in their own home.

The latest figures from the Central Bank of Ireland, dating from the end of 2018, show that more than 111,000 principal dwelling home mortgages had been restructured. This illustrates how important it is for borrowers to engage with their lenders as it is possible to put solutions in place. That is notwithstanding the case the two Deputies have raised, in which there seems to be a difficulty in engaging. While there are still too many in mortgage arrears, we are making progress. The number of accounts in arrears has been declining every quarter since the peak in 2013.

I would like to refer to the protections in place for those in mortgage difficulty. The Government and the Central Bank of Ireland are strongly of the view that the consumer protection regulatory framework provides strong protections for those in mortgage arrears. The House will recall that late last year the Government supported and assisted Deputy Michael McGrath in bringing his Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2018 into force. The Act has expanded the scope of “credit servicing” to include legal ownership of legal title to credit granted under a credit agreement and associated ownership activities. Therefore, if a loan is transferred, the holder of the legal title to the credit must be authorised by the Central Bank as a credit servicing firm. The Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015 provides that all of the consumer protections a borrower had prior to a loan sale continue to apply after the loan

sale, irrespective of the regulatory status of the new creditor. Furthermore, the Central Bank statutory code of conduct on mortgage arrears applies to the mortgage loan of a borrower which is secured by his or her primary residence. The code sets out how mortgage lenders must treat borrowers facing mortgage arrears. Lenders are required to comply with all aspects of the code and its protections apply to residential mortgages provided for consumers, irrespective of who owns the loan. The code is enforceable against regulated entities by the Central Bank.

The mortgage to rent scheme is another Government initiative to help homeowners who are at risk of losing their home. It is administered and managed by the Housing Agency.

I will bring the particulars of the case the two Deputies have raised and the supplementary points I am sure they will raise to the attention of the Minister and ask him to revert to both directly.

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