merrion street

On the recommendation of the Minister for Finance, the Government today (4 March 2014) decided not to oppose the passage of the Protection of Residential Mortgage Account Holders Bill 2014 proposed by Deputy Michael McGrath to Committee stage.

The Government fully accepts the principle of the Bill but unfortunately, following a close examination of the Bill by officials in the Department, the Bill as currently drafted does not provide the full protections of the Central Bank’s Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears to mortgage holders in unregulated financial institutions.

The Minister for Finance understands the concerns of mortgage holders in IBRC. However, this Bill offers no additional protections to the mortgage holders over and above the voluntary agreement that the Special Liquidators reached last week (Tuesday 25th February) with the Phase Two bidders for the IBRC mortgage book.  In addition, the Minister for Finance has committed to bringing forward legislation to offer all mortgage holders in Ireland the full protection of the CCMA.

The Government will address the specific concerns when addressing the motion in the Dáil this evening.

The Minister would like to thank Deputy McGrath for his work to date on this Bill. Officials in the Department of Finance, the Attorney General’s Office and the Central Bank have already been working on this complex issue and the Minister will bring forward legislation to address the issue.

The Minister looks forward to working with Deputy McGrath and other members on the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform on the legislation.