Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 59: To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to introduce measures to protect householders whose mortgage payments are in default; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33909/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware of the Government's commitments to Protecting the Family Home and Helping Those in Debt under the Renewed Programme for Government and the existence of the Mortgage Arrears and Personal Debt Expert Group (Expert Group) which I established last February to give effect to those commitments. Central to the Experts Group's terms of reference is a requirement to make recommendations to me on options for improving the current situation for families with mortgage arrears and personal debt.

The Expert Group has completed the first phase of its work and submitted an Interim Report to me in July www.finance.gov.ie. The Interim Report's key recommendations address the issues of communication between householders in arrears and their lenders, and the need for a more consistent assessment process by lenders of borrowers in difficulty in the form of an industry-wide Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP) including a range of forbearance measures. The recommendations have been accepted in full by the Government and action is being taken to bring them into effect.

The Expert Group is now in the process of addressing the more complex issues of homeowners who are facing long term difficulties in meeting their mortgage and personal debt commitments and will make recommendations to me at the end of next month which will build on the Interim Report's recommendations to provide an integrated package of solutions to address the various circumstances that borrowers are now finding themselves in.

As has been stated on many occasions in this House, it is a priority of the Government to ensure that as far as possible that difficulties in relation to mortgage arrears do not result in legal proceedings for home repossession. I am confident that the support measures been taken by Government, including the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, the Mortgage Interest Subsidy Scheme and the services provided by MABS, are having a positive effect in this regard. However, I will await the final recommendations of the Expert Group before deciding on options for improving existing supports.