Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Central Bank of Ireland publishes mortgage arrears statistics on a quarterly basis. These are publicly available on the Bank's webpage. I have been informed by the Central Bank of Ireland that quarterly mortgage arrears statistics have been collected since September 2009. The end year long-term arrears are provided for the years 2009 to 2022 in the table below. The 2023 end year statistics will be published by the Bank at the end of the first quarter of this year.

For the Deputy's information, the figures for 2009, 2010 and 2011 are arrears of over 180 days whereas from 2012 the number of accounts in arrears over 365 days are provided. The numbers represent accounts on primary dwelling houses in Ireland.

Number of Mortgage Accounts in Long Term Arrears

December 2009*	19185
December 2010*	31338
December 2011*	50981
December 2012	50385
December 2013	60415
December 2014	57095
December 2015	48096
December 2016	42695
December 2017	37791
December 2018	35474
December 2019	32413
December 2020	30048
December 2021	26909
December 2022	22779

* arrears more than 180 days.

The Government is aware of the pressure that the rising interest rate environment is exerting on borrowers. Last year, I convened a meeting with lenders active in the mortgage market on 31 August. The Central Bank of Ireland, the Insolvency Service of Ireland, the Citizens Information Board and Money Advice and Budgeting Service also attended.

Following this meeting, on 6 September the Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI)'s second phase of its Dealing With Debt campaign was launched to highlight new and existing supports available for mortgage customers.

One of the initiatives to which I would draw the Deputy's attention is the work between Credit Servicing Firms and MABS on a streamlined customer engagement framework to accelerate the agreement of sustainable repayment plans for customers in financial difficulty.

Against the current economic backdrop and in light of commitments in the Programme for Government and recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations, I have tasked officials to review the current mortgage arrears framework and an interdepartmental group has been established to review the mortgage arrears framework.

The Mortgage Arrears Group comprises representation from my Department, the Department of Justice, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Social Protection.

The focus of the Group will be to consider the impact of the mortgage arrears framework, the current resolution options across the agencies and bodies and recommend refinements and improvements to better address the economic and social impact of mortgage arrears. The Mortgage Arrears Group has commenced its work in September 2023 and will report on its review during the second quarter of 2024.

There are already measures which the Central Bank has put in place to protect consumers who are mortgage holders. The consumer protection framework ensures that lenders are transparent and fair in all their dealings with borrowers and that borrowers are protected from the beginning to the end of the mortgage life cycle. The framework provides protections at the initial marketing/advertising stage, in assessing the affordability and suitability of the mortgage and at a time when borrowers may find themselves in financial difficulties.

The requirements put in place by the Central Bank complement the European legislative framework, including the Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements Regulations (the ‘Mortgage Credit Regulations’).

The consumer protection framework provides the same protections for borrowers regardless of the regulated lender with whom they are dealing, be that a bank, retail credit firm (RCF) or credit servicing firm (CSF). These regulated lenders must be authorised and supervised by the Central Bank, and are subject to the full suite of relevant regulatory requirements and financial services legislation, including the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (CCMA).

The CCMA was introduced to ensure that regulated entities have fair and transparent processes in place for dealing with borrowers in or facing mortgage arrears and is part of the national policy framework of supports and protections available to assist borrowers in financial difficulties..

The CCMA sets out the process that lenders must follow when a borrower is in or facing difficulties with their mortgage payments. Due regard must be given to the fact that each case is unique and must be considered on its own merits. All cases must be handled sympathetically and positively by the regulated lender, with the objective of assisting the borrower to meet his or her mortgage obligations.

Lenders must explore all of the options for alternative repayment arrangements (ARAs) in order to determine which ARA, if any, is appropriate and sustainable for a borrower’s individual circumstances. Under the CCMA, a regulated lender may only commence legal proceedings for repossession where it has made every reasonable effort to agree an ARA with the borrower and other clear requirements are met, or the borrower has been classified as not co-operating.

The CCMA also requires lenders to establish an appeals mechanism for decisions where the lender declines to offer an ARA, where the borrower is not willing to enter into an ARA offered, or where the lender classifies the borrower as not co-operating.