Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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295. To ask the Minister for Finance the legal basis on which the Central Bank of Ireland can impose greater capital requirements on banks that do not reach the mortgage arrears resolution targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15333/15]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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296. To ask the Minister for Finance if the Central Bank of Ireland can impose greater capital requirements on banks that do not meet the mortgage arrears resolution target, as long as that bank is not in breach of any of element of the capital requirements directive or any other regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15334/15]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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297. To ask the Minister for Finance if all Irish banks that participate in the mortgage arrears resolution targets are currently meeting all regulations that, if not met, would allow the Central Bank of Ireland to impose greater capital requirements under regulation 70 of the 2006 regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15335/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 295 to 297, inclusive, together.

The Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive IV (CRR/CRD IV) introduced a number of new macro-prudential instruments and powers. The Regulation was directly applicable in Member States when the legislation entered into force on 1 January 2014, and the CRD IV Directive was transposed into Irish law by the Minister for Finance on 31 March 2014. The Central Bank of Ireland was designated as the authority with competence to perform the functions under the CRR and CRD IV including macro prudential powers such as imposing a countercyclical capital buffer, systemically important institutions buffers and the ability to tighten a range of micro-prudential instruments. Following the introduction of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) on 4 November 2014, the SSM took overall responsibility for setting bank's regulatory capital requirements. Nonetheless, the Central Bank, through its participation in the SSM, still plays a significant role in determining regulatory capital requirements.

Tackling mortgage arrears is a priority for the Government. A whole-of-Government approach has been adopted in addressing the issue with a view to maximising the level of loan restructuring arrangements and minimising the number of home repossessions.

The Central Bank is also continuing to take action in this area. On 2 April the Central Bank reported that the lenders covered by the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Targets met the Central Bank requirements for Q4 2014. Furthermore, the Central Bank announced that it had determined that relying on common quarterly targets was no longer appropriate and instead they have written to each bank setting out new requirements, including that concluded sustainable solutions are in place for the vast majority of distressed borrowers by the end of 2015. The Central Bank remains focused on ensuring that the banks continue to improve issues identified in relation to their individual systems and procedures to ensure that they resolve arrears cases by implementing sustainable solutions for distressed borrowers in a fair manner.