Written answers

Tuesday, 19 May 2015

Department of Justice and Equality

Court Orders

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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241. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of court orders which have been enforced and the number of those which were made, but not enforced, regarding private dwelling home repossession cases, for the year 2014 and to date in 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13121/15]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service and I have no role in the matter. Section 4(3) of the 1998 Act provides that the Courts Service is independent in the performance of its functions, which includes the provision of information on the courts system. I am informed that statistical data on orders for possession is available on the Courts Service website, www.courts.ie.

It is important to note that the number of civil bills issued does not reflect either the number of orders for possession granted or necessarily equate with repossessions as it is up to the person or company who obtained the order for possession to pursue its execution. Therefore, relative to the number of civil bills issued, a small portion end up as repossessions since in many cases the civil bill gives rise to engagement of the borrower with the bank resulting in either a mortgage restructuring agreement between the bank and borrower or a Personal Insolvency Arrangement entered into under the Personal Insolvency Act.

The Central Bank's quarterly Residential Mortgage Arrears and Repossession Statistics have information which may be of interest to the Deputy and they are available at www.centralbank.ie. The statistics include the number of properties taken into possession by lenders during the relevant quarter including the number which were repossessed on foot of a Court Order.

Finally, as I am sure the Deputy is aware, the Government recently announced a series of measures to assist people in mortgage distress. The measures include a major reform of the Personal Insolvency framework in which the Government has agreed to give Courts the power to review and, where appropriate, to approve insolvency deals that have been rejected by banks; an expansion of the Mortgage to Rent scheme which will be undertaken by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the provision by the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) of additional services to provide assistance in identifying the best options, completing financial statements and considering proposed solutions.

These measures are aimed at increasing the supports available to people in arrears and to increase the number of people availing of them. The overall objective of the Government's initiatives in this area is to ensure that a full range of options is available to distressed borrowers and to keep as many people in their homes as possible.

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