Ivana Bacik (Independent)

Go raibh maith agaibh go léir for raising so many issues. The matter of mortgage arrears was raised by Senators Darragh O'Brien, Jim D'Arcy, Cáit Keane, Marc MacSharry, Colm Burke, Diarmuid Wilson and Martin Conway. The common theme that emerged was frustration at the lack of progress, which we all share. Both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have stated there has not been as much progress as they would like. As a result they have established the Cabinet sub-committee on mortgage arrears to bring a new focus to the issue and drive further action.

Measures have been adopted as a result of budget 2012 such as expanded mortgage interest relief schemes for first-time buyers who bought during the boom years between 2004 and 2008. Many of them are among the most likely to be in mortgage arrears. There is also the scheme of the personal insolvency Bill, on which members of the justice committee have been very involved in public hearings. We published our report on the Bill on 6 March which makes some robust recommendations for changes to it, particularly to deal with an issue identified by Senator Darragh O'Brien and others, that is, the Bill's lack of teeth and the fact that banks might still effectively be able to deny a resolution because there is no appeals mechanism.

Having heard from all the interested groups, including the bankers and groups such as the Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, which represent those in difficulty with their mortgage, the committee has recommended that an appeals mechanism be provided for in the Bill. We have made a number of other recommendations which have been submitted to the Department of Justice and Equality and I am hopeful the Bill will be strengthened.

It would be no harm to adopt Senator Jim D'Arcy's suggestion, that a message be sent from the Leader of the Seanad to the Taoiseach asking that the process of action to provide assistance for those in mortgage arrears be speeded up. I will certainly pass on this message to the Taoiseach as it would be helpful to do what the Senator has suggested.

Senator Martin Conway raised a particular difficulty of a constituent, while other Senators mentioned the code the conduct, which the banks are seeking to amend. It prescribes that banks should not contact clients more than three times a month. This matter arose during the insolvency hearings before the justice committee. While we are all in agreement that banks should not be permitted to intimidate customers, the reason the restriction is included in the code, we have also heard that people are having difficulty making contact with banks when they wish to make arrangements for the renegotiation of mortgage payments. That difficulty needs to be addressed. I do not know if other Members have heard of this happening. Personally, I would not be in favour of allowing more contact, but we must address this difficulty where there is no reciprocal communication from the banks.