Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I met the banking and insurance defective block redress focus group yesterday to discuss its concerns, which included the issues raised by the Deputy. The focus of the meeting was on mortgages. I understand the very difficult situation faced by homeowners whose houses are affected by defective concrete blocks, and the Government is determined to assist households impacted by this terrible situation. As the Deputy is aware, the Government response on this issue is led by my colleague the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

I understand from his Department that, following the enactment of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022, the necessary regulations under that Act are now close to finalisation. While I do not have a regulatory role in respect of banks and other mortgage creditors, that is an independent matter for the Central Bank, I believe the existing consumer protection regulatory framework is strong and should be fully applied to assist households impacted by defective blocks. This regulatory framework seeks to ensure that mortgage creditors are transparent and fair in all their dealings with borrowers and that borrowers are protected from the beginning to the end of the mortgage life cycle.

In particular the Central Bank code of conduct on mortgage arrears, CCMA, requires regulated entities to have fair and transparent processes in place for dealing with borrowers in, or facing, arrears on a mortgage secured on a primary residence. This applies irrespective of the particular issue that is giving rise to the mortgage difficulty. All CCMA cases must be handled in a sympathetic and positive manner by the regulated entity and the entity must explore all of the options for an alternative repayment arrangement or any other relief method which may be offered by that mortgage creditor.

In relation to any request for new credit, while the decision on such applications is a commercial matter for the lenders within the regulatory framework, such applications should be processed and assessed in an efficient manner, in line with the timeframes as set out in the consumer protection code. Perhaps in subsequent replies I can give a flavour of the issues we discussed yesterday.

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