Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 4: To ask the Minister for Finance in view of the fact that he has now received the report form the group chaired by Mr. Declan Keane established to examine ways to assist persons in difficulty with their mortgage, if he will set out his views on the recommendations of the report; and the actions, and when, he intends to take arising from this report. [27801/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Government is acutely aware of the increasing financial stress that some households face arising from difficulty in meeting their mortgage commitments. Against this background, the Government's Economic Management Council, prior to the summer recess, requested an interdepartmental group to consider further necessary actions to alleviate the increasing problem of mortgage over-indebtedness and to report to it by the end of September.

The outcome of the work done by the group, which was chaired by my Department and comprised representatives from other relevant Departments, the Central Bank and expertise from the banking sector, has been presented to the Economic Management Council. I will bring the report to Cabinet next week, after which it will be published. I anticipate that the Dáil will be given an opportunity to fully debate the contents and findings soon afterwards. Until the report has been considered by Government and released into the public domain, I do not wish to make any further comment on the contents.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the fact that the Minister will publish the report after the Cabinet has considered it. I hope he will publish it next week. It is important that all of us, who have a collective responsibility to assist people who are in difficulty with mortgages, have an opportunity to debate the report and to contribute to the decisions that will be made. A greater sense of urgency is required on this issue. I acknowledge that the Government considered it necessary to set up another review and its report has now been completed. However, people who are in difficulty with their mortgages want to know when the Government will take decisions that will assist them. How soon after next week are we likely to see legislation, if necessary, to implement the recommendations of the report? Elements of it have been leaked in recent days, and reports of its content are not terribly inspiring. However, we will wait to see the detail.

Would the Minister agree that what is really needed is independent intervention whereby binding solutions can be put in place? Fianna Fáil is of the view that a debt settlement and mortgage resolution office must be established to deal with a person's entire debt, including his or her personal debt as well as mortgage debt. An individually tailored solution can then be put in place for each person's circumstances. Does the Minister agree that is the way forward?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Various solutions were examined by the interdepartmental group. Considering that it spanned the holiday period, I believe the group treated the matter with great urgency. It briefed the economic council and provided me with a full report before the end of September. The report would have gone to the Government yesterday except I was attending an ECOFIN meeting in Brussels. I will bring it to Government next week.

Every Deputy here is not only aware of the situation but can offer examples of people who are experiencing difficulty with their mortgages. I will not approach this on the basis of us having all the solutions. I will bring the report to the House and if Deputies on either the Government or Opposition benches offer additional proposals that I think will run, we can include them in the final draft. The idea is to bring a report to the House and to act on it quite quickly.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister give a commitment to publish the report next week? Can he give us a sense of how quickly decisions will be taken and subsequently implemented? Will the decisions be implemented before the budget? Does the Minister anticipate that there will be legislation on this issue in the next couple of months? People cannot afford to wait until the budget because this issue could get lost in the wider issues that will be debated at that time in the context of the budgetary adjustment. It should be dealt with urgently before the budget.

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am committing to taking the report to the Government next week and if the Government clears it, we will publish it straight away. However, one never knows what might arise between now and next Wednesday, so I do not wish to give an absolute commitment to publish it next week if the Government does not clear it. There is no reason the Government would not clear it and I expect that it will be published next week. We can then have a full discussion about it in the House and talk about a time line for implementation.