Trevor Quinn
The Government last week ruled out debt forgiveness measures and are instead drawing up ‘interim measures’ to help struggling mortgage holders to deal with insurmountable debt.
In Mayo the pain of mortgage holders is being felt as acutely as anywhere in the country. Last week a repossession order was granted at Dublin’s High Court for a Mayo family home in an instance where the owners were €27,000 in arrears.
The couple who have two children aged 13 and eight made intermittent arrangements with Start Mortgages Ltd to cover arrears which dated back to 2008, but they were unsuccessful in maintaining the agreed payments.
The couple had sought assistance from the Money, Advice and Budgetary Service (MABS) and had attempted to get mortgage interest supplement. The court heard they were only able to repay €180 a month out of a total due sum of €912. A stay of six months was ordered by the judge.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said the Government is examining the feasibility of a number of issues to help householders. He said that the possibility of bringing forward bankruptcy legislation was something the Government were looking at.
Moratoriums on house repossessions and mortgage interest relief were other ways which Deputy Kenny said the Government are attempting to help householders.
Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary (pictured) says it is vitally important that people who are experiencing difficulty with their mortgage repayments “engage with their bank or financial institution” and try to come to some sort of arrangement.
Despite the fact that 210 homes have been repossessed in the High Court and Circuit Courts already this year the rate of repossession orders are still relatively low in Ireland compared to the UK. In Ireland there are 13 repossessions for every 100,000 mortgages, while in the UK this rate is significantly higher with 69 homes being repossessed for every 100,000 mortgages.
Deputy Calleary says people should not be afraid to seek help. “People shouldn’t be embarrassed or ashamed. Everything is done confidentially,“ adding, “It’s a sign of where we’re at.”
Deputy Calleary insisted there were opportunities for struggling home owners to tackle the issue. He says: “The rate of repossessions in Ireland is still relatively low compared to that in the UK so unless it is a very serious case there is room for discussion and dialogue.”
New figures from the Courts Service confirm that two possession orders a day were made during the first three months of 2011. One in ten householders are believed to be struggling to maintain their mortgage payments.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the Government is examining the feasibility of a number of issues to help householders. He said that the possibility of bringing forward bankruptcy legislation was something the Government were looking at.
Moratoriums on house repossessions and mortgage interest relief were other ways which Mr Kenny says the Government are attempting to help householders.
Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary says the debt forgiveness option is an issue which is complicated, adding that the balancing act leaves little room for maneuver. “It’s difficult. On the one hand you have a lot of people who are struggling and if they see that some mortgage holders are being excused they may decide not to make the effort themselves. That’s the challenge.”
Deputy Calleary says the Fianna Fáil party will soon be releasing a publication which will outline their plans for assisting troubled mortgage holders. “We are presently finalising our recommendations which will give details of our plan and those should be available in the coming weeks. There is support. People in Mayo who are experiencing difficulty should contact their Citizens Information office, their welfare office or my office.”
