Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We keep this matter under review all the times. As the Deputy will be aware, every quarter we publish all of the different information on the performance of mortgages and how the issue of non-payment of arrears is dealt with. I regularly meet the banks at CEO and chairperson level and I raise these issues at each of these meetings. The Deputy will know that we are making and have made progress with regard to restructuring agreements and that by the end of the fourth quarter of last year, we saw a further 4,251 new restructuring arrangements put in place, bringing the total number of these structures agreed in 2018 alone up to 22,171 restructures. That shows the degree to which these kinds of arrangements are being used to deal with the issues that the Deputy is referring to. I will continue to look at the framework we have in place to ensure that it gets the balance right between treating our citizens fairly and ensuring that we have a banking sector that can meet the needs of all citizens and our economy.

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