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Seanad: Central Bank and Credit Institutions (Resolution) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: I thank the Seanad for co-operating so effectively in getting this Bill through all Stages today. In particular, I thank the Acting Chairman, Senator Leyden, and all the Senators who contributed to the short debate. All the salient points were touched on and I appreciate that very much.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: That is what the country is getting.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: Why does Deputy Ó Caoláin think we are holding this debate?

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: I thank everyone for their contributions to the debate. The Keane committee did a great deal and worked through the holiday period to meet very tight deadlines set down by the economic management committee of the Cabinet. I thank the Keane committee members for their hard work in producing the report. It is not a minimalist report and there are very good ideas in it. The committee was...

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Deputy's question was whether I would consider debt for equity. I am saying that Mr. Keane has allowed for a consideration of debt for equity in the residual portion of the warehoused mortgage if a split mortgage is the solution. However, we must do further analysis and consideration of that approach. The difficulty with equity stakes is that much of the time there is no equity.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: That is the problem. If one has a situation where a mortgage is impaired and if it has also gone into negative equity and the bank is holding the deeds against the full mortgage, any swapping around with equity is the bank subdividing its own collateral. The problem is that a lot of the time there is no equity to play with, but sometimes there is, and what I am saying is that there are a...

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: One of the ironies is that in trying to punish a bank that has been totally recapitalised by the taxpayer, one ends up punishing oneself and all one's tax-paying colleagues. Not everything can be done. The mortgage interest supplement is a very good scheme that is keeping many people out of major difficulties, but it was designed as temporary assistance for people in temporary difficulty....

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: The Keane report proposes to deploy 100 experts.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: They will probably be accountants or people who understand the mortgage business. They will address the inequality in the relationship. In other words, a couple may have considered it a good idea to take out a 100% mortgage to purchase a house because the alternative was social housing.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: I do not think the Deputy knows any poor people. I do not think he has met a poor person in the past six months.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: Most of the time he has no idea what the real world is like. He is all theory. He should speak to his colleagues who run clinics every week and understand these matters.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: That is the idea.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: I would never find my way around the gold coast. I have not been there for a long time. I do not yet know what we will do in terms of developing a legal base for these intermediaries but I will take advice on the matter. The intention is that 100 individuals with expertise would act as interlocutors for people with impaired mortgages to equalise the relationship. They would carry out the...

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: We have had three inquiries into the banking system. They have been debated in the House. If the referendum arising from the Abbeylara judgment goes through next week, it looks as if we will have another in-house inquiry into the banking system. When the economic council of the Government set up the Keane group, it wanted a report to be prepared very quickly. We were responding to many...

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: We know what happened. There are three reports on it. We do not have to remember it for the future. We do not have to keep flogging it all the time. It is much more important to move on a blueprint to help people with impaired mortgages, rather than having another shouting match about it.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: I asked the Keane group to report by the end of September. It did that. It did not involve outside bodies because I wanted an initial blueprint to put before the House so we would have some kind of framework for action. It is not true to say the group ignored the banks, or took the side of the banks. Like much of the language of the public service, the group's language is unemotional. If...

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: Do Deputies think the institutions are pleased about the possibility that people with incomes will be able to move towards bankruptcy as a means of resolving their problems with impaired assets? Of course they are not.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: Under the mortgage-to-rent scheme, the bank will have to retain property and lease and manage it. They will not welcome that. Does the Deputy think the banks want to release property to local authorities while maintaining ownership of it? Rather than the banks collecting mortgage repayments, the local authorities will be collecting rent. When one examines the individual proposals, one...

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: It is not true to suggest that foreign banks which offered mortgages here are totally outside the scope of these recommendations. They are not.

Report by the Interdepartmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears: Statements (Resumed) (20 Oct 2011)

Michael Noonan: It comes together with the Central Bank's procedures. There is a pretty strong policy unit in the Department of Finance. We brought in the expertise that was in the National Treasury Management Agency. There is a banking policy unit there now. We are going to drive these recommendations. I am not saying these are the only recommendations we are going to drive. Mr. Keane did a very good...