Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

The area of repossessions, which Senator Coffey spoke about, is emotive. When the credit crunch and the difficulties of people losing their jobs became evident, I found when I took over this portfolio that there was a code of practice for lending institutions. This did not cover all institutions and it did not have a statutory basis so I moved on these issues. At the moment all lending institutions are covered under the code of practice, and there has been a statutory instrument since February. There are strict criteria and on a regular basis my officials and I meet the two relevant organisations, namely, the regulator and the Irish Banking Federation.