Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 338: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 124 of 25 October 2011, if local authorities are also obliged to establish a dedicated arrears support unit and an internal appeals board; if a decision on mortgage arrears with a local authority can be appealed directly to him or to another outside body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33159/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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In March 2010, my Department issued comprehensive guidance to local authorities on the treatment of mortgage arrears. 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.

The new guidance will provide for the introduction, inter alia, of:

· dedicated arrears support,

· a common mortgage arrears resolution process (MARP),

· a process for appeal of decisions reached under the MARP, and;

· a range of options for the treatment of arrears in particular cases.