Research published by the British Medical Journal has confirmed that this state has seen one of the highest increases in deaths by suicide directly related to the recession. The enormous pressure exerted by household and mortgage debt has literally become unbearable for many families, as was highlighted tragically by the death of former Priory Hall resident Mr. Fiachra Daly. The Tánaiste personally promised to make the mortgage crisis a priority, yet the Government is willing to allow the banks to set the agenda and the number of families in mortgage distress has doubled on his watch. The response of the banks has been to issue 15,000 repossession letters to struggling families. We recently heard on the airwaves worrying statements by a number of personal insolvency practitioners. I have a number of questions for the Tánaiste. Will the Government force the banks to wipe out the outstanding mortgages and allow the former residents of Priory Hall to hand back their keys? Will it give these families a fresh start?

On the broader issue of mortgages, can the Tánaiste guarantee no family will be denied access to a personal insolvency practitioner because of an inability to pay upfront fees of the order of €5,000 or €7,000? Will he guarantee that no family will be excluded from the insolvency process because of a refusal by the banks to engage with the insolvency practitioners because the family simply holds one mortgage?

With regard to Priory Hall, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, has initiated a process and within a short period of time it will work up solutions with stakeholders. The process started this morning and the Minister expects to have a report shortly. The Priory Hall issue is being dealt with quite quickly by the Government and I hope for a solution to the problem within a short period.

The Government has made the mortgage crisis a priority. That is why we changed the law to introduce personal insolvency legislation and why we have introduced, for the first time, non-judicial debt settlement arrangements and put in place the personal insolvency service, which has just begun its work. There is progress being made in that regard. The Personal Insolvency Act was signed into law at the end of last year and the personal insolvency service was formally launched on 1 March. The Central Bank has set targets requiring the main mortgage lenders to offer durable solutions to mortgage holders over 90 days in arrears. The revised code of conduct on mortgage arrears was published by the Central Bank in June and the Department of Finance continues to engage with lenders. The Central Bank's end of June mortgage data indicated the stock of personal mortgage restructures was around 79,000. Some 53% of these restructured accounts are not in arrears, which indicates that the banks are taking some early measures to address mortgage difficulties. It is welcome that the Central Bank stated over 76% of the restructured mortgage holders were deemed to be meeting the terms of their agreement. As indicated previously, the Department of Finance has more recent data from the main banks which indicates that at the end of July some 1,800 split mortgages were in place, 12,600 accounts had been subject to a term extension restructure and that a further 12,000 accounts had had arrears capitalised. Progress is being made on the issue of mortgage restructuring. The whole purpose of the legislation and the means put in place are such that every family in mortgage difficulty will have access to the process and system. The Government will closely monitor what is happening in practice because the outcome we want to achieve is to ensure that, one by one, households in mortgage difficulty and arrears will have their mortgage problem solved using the processes put in place to enable people to put the mortgage crisis behind them and get on with the rest of their lives.

The Tánaiste is demonstrating remarkable faith in the very banks that issued 15,000 legal repossession letters to families that they believe offer a durable and sustainable solution for these families. The people of Priory Hall have heard terms such as process, stakeholders, solutions and Government commitments, but what we need to know is that they will have the slate wiped clean and that after two torturous years and the tragedy therein, they will have a real opportunity to move on with their lives. Will the Tánaiste tell us whether the option of wiping the slate clean, the necessary solution, is being considered?

The Tánaiste gave us an account of the passage of the personal insolvency legislation, but the difficulty is that we have heard from the horse's mouth, from personal insolvency practitioners, that upfront fees of €5,000 or €7,000 will be required to avail of their services. The Tánaiste needs to tell the public that this is not going to happen and that people will not be barred from the process because of exorbitant fees. Personal insolvency practitioners have said publicly that the banks are already telling them that they will not deal with them in respect of single mortgage holders. The Government has let the banks away with lots as, historically and in contemporary terms, they were allowed to run riot and they hold all the cards. Surely the Tánaiste has something to say when the professionals who will run the service say in public that the banks are already telling them that they will not deal with personal insolvency practitioners in resolving debt issues for families with single mortgages, which represents the bulk of those in distress. The legislation is all well and good, but that does not mean that the Tánaiste's job is done. We must be sure that, owing to excessive fees or an arrogant stance taken by the banks, people will not find themselves on the wrong end of this. I seek assurances from the Tánaiste that he will make sure that, on the issue of fees and the banks playing ball, these matters will be dealt with adequately.

First, the Priory Hall issue is being dealt with. As I have said, the process that has been put in place is intended to be activated quickly. I will not prejudge the outcome of that. It will be dealt with quickly. The residents of Priory Hall have waited a very long time. I accept that there were judicial issues, legal issues, etc., for a period of time. The problems in Priory Hall are being dealt with and there will be an outcome to that without undue delay.

Second, on the mortgage issue, the reason we introduced the legislation, established the personal insolvency service and put in place the various methods for non-judicial debt settlement is to ensure the mortgage arrears problems that many households and families have in this country will be resolved. Nobody will be barred from that process. Neither exorbitant fees nor the attitudes of banks, professionals or anybody else will debar anybody from access to that process.

Has the Tánaiste told the banks that?

Our objective has always been to put in place the pathway and architecture to enable households and families to secure a settlement of their mortgage arrears difficulties with their financial institutions. That has to be done on a case-by-case basis. Progress is being made on it. We will continue to monitor it because at the end of the day-----

Will the Tánaiste tell the banks and the practitioners that?

Absolutely.

Sorry, the time is up. I thank the Tánaiste.

Let me tell them publicly.

The Tánaiste should do that.

I say to the banks that we want the issue of mortgage arrears with households resolved and we do not want any issue of attitude, arrogance or any other term that Deputy McDonald wants to put on it. We want this problem solved. That is why we passed the legislation. That is why we established the personal insolvency service. That is also why such provision was included in the recapitalisation of the banks at the time.

They told them two years ago.

Labour's way or the banks' way.

Let nobody be in any doubt about our determination as a Government. We have put in place the legislation and the method - the personal insolvency service - for persons to resolve their mortgage difficulties, and the banks and everybody else need to get on with that. The Central Bank has set targets and we will monitor it, month by month, until the problem is fully resolved.

Before I call Deputy Healy, I ask speakers to respect the Chair and the time limits imposed by this House.