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

It is due to my work, and work that was done by the banks, that the payment breaks are in place in the first place. These are 160,000 payment breaks. That means there are tens of thousands of mortgage holders availing of these breaks. I want to ensure that if this issue develops across this year, we are not in a position that any additional profit is being made from this and that these payment breaks and, in particular, the point at which mortgage holders exit from them, are dealt with carefully and fairly.

There are costs that develop from the implementation of these payment breaks. There are costs involved in bringing in payment breaks in the first place and these are costs that must sit somewhere. As they are being dealt with by the banks, it is important that those who are in receipt of them are clear about where they stand and about the kind of expense that might be incurred by them in the future, and that it is open to those exiting these payment breaks to move back onto a mortgage repayment schedule that is the same as the one they left in terms of the average monthly payment.

While there are concerns and debates around these mortgage breaks, the fact that they have been brought in has been a significant help to the many tens of thousands of citizens who need them, and we now need to look at how they can continue to be protected as we deal with the consequences of this disease.

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