Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 50: To ask the Minister for Social Protection his plans to abolish the 30-hour rule in respect of mortgage interest supplement. [43842/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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There are approximately 17,800 persons currently in receipt of mortgage interest supplement (MIS). This represents a 120% increase since the end of 2008 when there were 8,100 recipients.

The Department's review of the administrative, policy and legal aspects of the mortgage interest supplement scheme was published in July 2010 in conjunction with the interim report of the Mortgage Arrears and Personal Debt Review Group. The main purpose of the Department's review was to examine how the scheme could continue to meet its primary objective of catering for those who require short-term assistance. The review group included representatives from my Department, the Community Welfare Service, the Departments of Finance and Environment, Heritage and Local Government, together with a representative from the Office of the Financial Regulator. The Review is available on the Department's website.

The MIS review makes a number of recommendations centred on the delivery of significant customer service improvement by ensuring that State support for those unable to deal with mortgage arrears is better targeted, consistent and easily understood. Allied with the focus on customer service improvement are recommendations that seek to ensure that lending institutions, borrowers and the Exchequer share responsibilities and commitments in a balanced way.

The key proposals of the Department's mortgage interest supplement review are as follows: 1. Mortgage interest supplement will become a time bound payment. 2. To remove the '30 hour rule' – this will allow couples / single people who, due to the economic downturn, have suffered a significant loss of income and now find themselves in a distressed mortgage and require MIS support. Under current rules, due to these people working a full working week they would not be entitled to MIS. 3. The rule excluding mortgage interest supplement where a property is offered for sale is unduly restrictive in the current market and should be suspended and re-introduced when the housing market recovers. 4. Mortgage interest supplement should not be provided where repayments of the capital element of the loan are being made to the lender. This will insure the borrower is not placed under additional financial stress. 5. The applicant should be afforded a six month period of forbearance with the lender before the State intervenes in providing mortgage interest supplement. 6. Mortgage interest supplement should not be payable in respect of any housing loans of other State agencies or housing authorities. 7. Successful applicants must be assisted to ensure that their long term housing support needs, if any, are met prior to the cessation of mortgage interest supplement payment.

My Department is currently developing an implementation plan that will set out a framework for the future of the mortgage interest supplement scheme. This plan will incorporate the recommendations and findings from my Department's mortgage interest supplement review and from the two reports from the Mortgage Arrears and Personal Debt Review Group whose final report was published on the 17th November 2010.