Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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234. To ask the Minister for Finance if a mortgage insurance scheme for the capital amount of mortgages has operated in the past; if introducing one has been considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12526/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, during the term of the thirty-first Dáil, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, published a report on "Mortgage Insurance in an Irish Context".  This report (at ) outlined, inter alia, the recent history of mortgage insurance in the Irish market and noted that, for a variety of reasons, the utilisation of such insurance has declined over time. In terms of the future development of mortgage insurance, this is a matter that will have to be considered in the context of the Government's overall policy on housing and also in the context of the Central Bank's macro prudential framework for residential mortgage lending. In that context, in the Programme for a Partnership Government the Government has committed itself to work with the Central Bank, as part of its upcoming review of its mortgage lending limits, to develop a new "Help to Buy" scheme to ensure availability of adequate, affordable mortgage finance or mortgage insurance for first time buyers as new housing output comes on stream.