Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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62. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the mortgage arrears numbers; his plans to tackle same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3430/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Government is aware of the significant difficulties some homeowners are facing in meeting their mortgage obligations and the Deputy will know that a comprehensive strategy to tackle the problem is in place.

The Deputy will be aware of the Central Bank's Mortgage Arrears Resolution Targets (MART) announced last March which sets time bound and measurable targets for the main banks requiring them to systematically address their arrears book. Under this rolling process, quarterly performance targets have now been set to the end of June 2014 to require the banks to propose and put in place durable long term solutions to address individual cases of mortgage arrears of more than 90 days in arrears.  

The Central Bank has indicated that all six mortgage lenders covered by the MART process have reported that they met the 20% proposed sustainable solutions target for the second quarter of 2013 and also the 30% target for the third quarter in 2013.  In particular, with respect to the third quarter 2013 target, which is the latest available data, the lenders have reported to the Central Bank they had issued proposals to 43% of mortgage accounts in arrears against the 30% target. 

The new monthly mortgage restructures and arrears data published by my Department will also provide an impetus for those MART banks to increase the pace of provision of mortgage restructures.  The latest publication, which is in respect of the end of November, shows that some progress has been made in putting permanent mortgage restructures in place.  For example, the number of permanent restructures of permanent dwelling mortgages more than 90 days in arrears has risen from around 41,200 in August to around 49,300 in November 2013, an increase of almost 20%.  

The Central Bank's mortgage arrears and restructure statistics for the quarter ending September 2013, published in November (www.centralbank.ie), shows a decline in the total number of principal dwelling houses (PDH) mortgage accounts in arrears of one per cent compared to the end of June 2013 position.  Within this, early arrears have declined significantly during the reporting period with a quarter-on-quarter fall of six per cent.  The data published by my Department and the Central Bank would appear to demonstrate some success by the lenders in addressing the accounts in early arrears and putting in place appropriate measures to prevent borrowers from going into arrears.

It is accepted that the issue of mortgage arrears is a major problem that needs to be resolved, not only for an individual borrower and lender, but also for the long term economic and social health of the country and the Government will ensure that the comprehensive strategy it has put in place to tackle the problem is now fully implemented by all the parties involved in the process.