Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 70: To ask the Minister for Finance his view on reports that Bank of Ireland has completed a restructure of only a small percentage of home loans that are in arrears or classified as impaired in view of the fact that this is resulting in additional distress for homeowners; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12051/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Bank of Ireland is an independent commercial entity and, subject to compliance with relevant legal, regulatory and accounting requirements, it is a matter for the institution's Board and management to manage and report on its mortgage book and other lending activities.

However, from a public policy perspective, a number of steps have been taken to protect all homeowners experiencing mortgage difficulty. The Central Bank's Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears provides that each bank must put in place a formal Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process to deal with its mortgage customers who are in arrears or pre-arrears and for the establishment of dedicated arrears support units and appeals processes to handle such cases. The Central Bank has published a guide for consumers on mortgage arrears called 'Mortgage Arrears – A Consumer Guide to Dealing with your Lender' and this is available on the Central Bank website: http://www.centralbank.ie/regulation/processes/consumer-protection-code/Documents/Consumer%20Booklet%20-%20FINAL%20Feb%202011.pdf . The Deputy will be aware that recent data from the Central Bank indicates that the number of restructured mortgages is increasing across the system. At end December 2011, a total of 74,379 mortgages were restructured compared to 69,735 at the end of September 2011 and 59,229 at the end of December 2010.

In addition, as part of the overall process to implement the recommendations made in the report of the Inter-Departmental Group on Mortgage Arrears, the Central Bank is currently reviewing the mortgage arrears resolution strategies of all mortgage lenders to ensure that they are looking at a range of appropriate longer term solutions, such as those recommended in the Inter-Departmental Group report as well as other options that banks may themselves develop, for their customers who having difficulty meeting their mortgage commitments. In its engagement with banks on this matter, the Central Bank advises that it will wish to ensure that banks manage the capital cost of such solutions, ensure that there is transparency and fairness to the consumer and also ensure that banks have the operational capacity to implement such solutions.