Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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500. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the new arrangements that are planned to facilitate faster repossession by financial institutions of commercial properties and buy-to-let homes where the mortgage holder has fallen into significant arrears; the elements of the present code of conduct on mortgage arrears that will apply in these cases where families are threatened with serious poverty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49449/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The rules of court governing repossession proceedings in the High Court (Order 38 of the Rules of the Superior Courts) and the Circuit Court (Order 5B of the Circuit Court Rules (Procedure in Certain Actions for Possession and Well Charging Relief) 2009) are intended to facilitate fair and efficient case management of such proceedings. Such rules are drawn up by the respective Court Rules Committees and any new arrangements in respect of such proceedings will be a matter, in the first instance, for these Committees. I should add that the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013 contains two important new provisions which will be of benefit to borrowers with arrears: section 2 provides that in any future repossession proceedings in respect of the borrower’s principal private residence, the court may adjourn proceedings so that a proposal for a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 may be fully explored as an alternative to repossession; section 3 introduces a new requirement whereby repossession actions in respect of mortgages on principal private residences and family homes which were created prior to 1 December 2009 must be commenced in the Circuit Court.

As regards the Central Bank's Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, the position is that it applies to the principal private residence of the borrower. Commercial properties come within the terms of the Central Bank's Customer Protection Code. This Code, which was revised in 2012, contains provisions on how lending institutions must deal with consumers who are in arrears on other loans, including personal loans and buy-to-let mortgages. While the September 2013 Update on the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support contains a commitment to examine the possibility of introducing tight deadlines on plenary repossession proceedings for non-principal private residences, current arrangements appear appropriate to deal with current demand and the Government is not considering any new arrangements at present in relation to this matter.