Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection further to her announcement on 6 September 2012 when she launched a scheme giving certain mortgage borrowers access to a consultation with an accountant worth up to €250, if she will confirm the number of borrowers that have to date partaken in this scheme. [55774/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Mortgage Arrears Information and Advice Service was established to provide the necessary supports to assist people in mortgage distress. The approach differentiates between mortgage information and mortgage advice. The first two elements involve the enhancement of the website and the establishment of a Mortgage Arrears Information Helpline within the Citizens Information Board (CIB), both of which focus on the provision of comprehensive mortgage arrears information in particular to people in arrears or pre-arrears.

The third element of the service is the provision of independent financial advice to mortgage holders who are being presented with long term mortgage resolution proposals by their lenders. This advice will be provided by a panel of accountants drawn from members of the main accountancy institutes in Ireland who have agreed to participate and support this independent service.

When a lender is proposing longer-term mortgage resolutions, the lender will advise the borrower to obtain independent financial advice on the proposed arrangement and, if the borrower wishes to avail of this option, that the lender will pay €250 to an accountant of the borrower’s choosing for the provision of this advice. The independent financial advice will be available to all mortgage holders in respect of a mortgage secured on a primary residence who have been offered longterm forbearance options by their lenders.

An operating protocol for the provision of this advice has been agreed between the main accountancy bodies and the Irish Banking Federation. To date, some 2,700 accountants have confirmed to their accounting body that they wish to be part of the panel and their details are listed on a county by county basis on the website .

The Central Bank of Ireland is engaging with lenders on the reporting requirements in relation to this new service and statistical details on the number of borrowers who have availed of the financial advice service should be available in early 2013.