Written answers

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Photo of Jim DalyJim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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236. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will request the Central Bank of Ireland to publish the number of mortgages held in covered institutions that have been converted from a tracker rate to a variable rate in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33588/14]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware there are a range of consumer protection measures in place for consumers with tracker mortgages. In the case of those in mortgage difficulty the Central Bank's Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (CCMA) sets out requirements for mortgage lenders when dealing with borrowers facing or in arrears on a mortgage which is secured on a primary residence. The CCMA provides a strong consumer protection framework to ensure that borrowers struggling to keep up repayments on a mortgage loan which is secured on a primary residence are treated in a fair and transparent manner by their lender, and that long term resolution is sought by lenders with each of their borrowers in genuine mortgage difficulty.

With regard to the protections for those mortgage holders who are on a tracker rate and in difficulty with their mortgage, the CCMA provides that the lender must not require a cooperating borrower to change from an existing tracker mortgage to another mortgage type, as part of any alternative repayment arrangement offered to the borrower, except in certain limited circumstances.   However, in the case of an existing tracker mortgage, if, following consideration of the options for an alternative repayment arrangement the lender concludes that none of the option(s) that would allow the borrower to retain his/her tracker interest rate is/are appropriate and sustainable for the borrower's individual circumstances, the lender may offer the borrower an alternative repayment arrangement which requires the borrower to change from an existing tracker mortgage to another mortgage type, if that alternative repayment arrangement is:

a) affordable for the borrower, and

b) a long-term sustainable solution which is consistent with Central Bank of Ireland policy on sustainability.

With regard to the publication of the information you have sought, I understand that the position of the Central Bank is that there is no evidence that the collection of this data from the covered institutions would supplement the data currently disclosed publicly by the Central Bank. 

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