Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 371: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when a code of conduct on mortgage arrears to be applied by local authorities will be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31189/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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My Department issued comprehensive guidance to local authorities on the treatment of mortgage arrears in March 2010. That guidance was based on the Central Bank's first statutory Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears to ensure that cases of local authority mortgage arrears are handled in a manner that is sympathetic to the needs of the particular household, while also protecting the position of the local authority concerned.

To reflect the content of the Central Bank's revised Code of Conduct – which replaced the previous code from 1 January 2011 and was informed by the deliberations of the Expert Group on Mortgage Arrears and Personal Debt – my Department is currently preparing updated guidance to local authorities in consultation with the City and County Managers Association.