I welcome the Taoiseach's intervention in the house repossession crisis. The number of court proceedings for house repossessions is rising at an alarming rate. In 2014 approximately 10,000 new applications for repossession were made to the courts. Between 1 and 10 January 2015, more than 1,400 court applications were made. According to all of the indications, there will an avalanche of similar cases in the coming period. It is speculated by reliable sources that up to 30,000 repossessions will be carried out between now and 2016. This is ironic, given that we are approaching the centenary of the 1916 Rising because the Proclamation of Independence stated all of the children of the nation would be treated as equals.

This is certainly not in keeping with that aspiration. In court proceedings so far, an alarming 46% of cases have resulted in an order for the repossession or sale of a property. In the Munster counties alone, there were 676 court proceedings in being in January. In my own county, there were 84 cases while there were 115 in the Taoiseach's county, Mayo. These figures have been compiled from the registrars of courts and the legal diary. The figures for people who have been in arrears for two years or more is consistently high. The latest statistic is that more than 37,500 people are in this category. The figures I am relating for our counties are mirrored across the board and consistently in proportion to population size. With a huge population in County Cork, there are 174 repossession proceedings in being.

I ask the Deputy for a question.

To compound matters, borrowers in many cases lost their jobs in the recession and remain unemployed. It is unsustainable for these people to meet the huge arrears and to live in their homes. I ask the Taoiseach to act diligently in the work he has been doing since last week and will continue over the next number of months. I ask him personally to give this matter his full time and attention.

I thank Deputy Tom Fleming for his comments. This is a matter of great concern to thousands of people all over the country. Over 110,000 problem mortgages have been restructured over the last period. The changes the Government has made in this context have been the most radical in many years in regard to bankruptcy, the establishment of the insolvency service, and the creation of the targets set by the Central Banks for banks to deal with the issue. There is a solution to the vast majority of these problems. Many people have not engaged at all with the lender in the first instance, but an issue cannot be sorted out if that does not happen.

There is a requirement on the banks to do their job and there is a requirement on the Central Bank in terms of the targets it has set. Work is being done by the Minister for Justice and Equality and the engagement of personal insolvency practitioners has been under way for quite some time. Since the law was changed to reduce the bankruptcy period from 12 years to three, there has been a dramatic shift by the banks in wanting to arrive at solutions for people with particular problems with their mortgages. It is not enough and we must do more. It is not right that so many people should have the stress and mental anguish of being afraid to get involved in sorting out the problem and just leaving it lie there. It is not for me to say that all of these can be sorted immediately, but there is a solution to the vast majority of them. The suite of options that has been put in place by Government has resulted in 110,000 mortgages being restructured.

Headway is being made as underlined by the Central Bank figures. The numbers show that mortgages that are in arrears for more than 90 days have fallen by 15,500 when compared with the start of 2004. In August 2013, there were 2,500 split mortgages put in place by the six main banks, whereas the figure is now 19,500. That shows how it is progressing. During the same period, the six main banks found permanent restructuring solutions for family homes, with an increase from 41,000 to just over 90,000. Nobody wants to see a family lose its home. The options and solutions that are there must be worked on by the different elements including the Department of Justice and Equality, the insolvency service, the banks and the other parties.

I am not happy with the progress being made on the very difficult cases. I stress that in some of these cases, people have not engaged with the lender at all. That is not going to resolve matters either. We have been working with the banks. The Tánaiste and I met with a number of insolvency practitioners last week and I expect to talk to the banks and work with the Central Bank on the targets that have been set. While the Insolvency Service of Ireland has not dealt with a great number of cases in its first year of operation, the number of applications for assistance is now rising dramatically because of the word of those who have gone through the system and had a permanent solution put in place for their mortgages.

The number of debt deals being processed through the new insolvency agency has been dismal up to now to say the least. In the first half of 2014, fewer than 30 cases were being processed. I hope there will be a positive outcome from the Taoiseach's engagement last week on the new agency. All the evidence is that the banks do not want to deal with the majority of people in debt distress. They are cherry-picking those who have short-term arrears of one year while those who have been in arrears for two years or more are being ignored. The banks are making no effort to engage with these people. That is why we have a figure of 37,500. It is outlandish how it has been allowed to slide to that level. The regulator and the Department of Finance have absolutely no powers in respect of the banks. It is really a case of the tail wagging the dog. This will have to end and our State bodies and the Minister for Finance will have to row in and assist the Taoiseach in his efforts. The banks will have to face up to the catastrophe they played a major role in creating. They are now reneging on their obligations and failing to carry out their responsibilities. In many cases, the banks are dragging their heels and treating people in a very unfair manner.

I ask the Taoiseach to provide assistance to MABS and New Beginnings, which are carrying out Trojan work on the ground. They are short of staff and resources but they have been playing a very effective role. They could do more over the next 12 months if they received the proper assistance. There are a number of volunteers out there who are specialising in this area also. I can give the Taoiseach a number of names. Perhaps they could also be given some assistance.

I agree with Deputy Tom Fleming that MABS has done great work over the years and evolved to a point where it has taken on some very difficult cases for clients dealing with the banks. No case will be sorted out if there is no co-operation or agreement to engage in the first instance. Help is available for people who do not read the letters or who dump them because they are afraid to read them. There is a solution to the vast majority of these problems, whether it be through MABS or the Insolvency Service of Ireland, the banks, the Department of Justice and Equality and the other agencies and organisations referred to by Deputy Tom Fleming. When the issue is put on the table, it can then be decided which of the solutions or options is best. There are various elements to that, including split mortgages and parking elements of the mortgage itself. There are a variety of things that can be done, but nothing will happen if people are not prepared to engage. The assistance put in place by the Government is available to them and we hope they will avail of it.

The last resort is for somebody to lose his or her house, and we do not want it to happen. Repossession is not inevitable for a person who has received a legal letter. The Central Bank has set down a code of conduct for mortgage holders and when a mortgage holder or borrower engages in the process, the code of conduct must be observed and this provides protection for the borrower. Last week, along with the Tánaiste and other Members, I met some of the personal insolvency practitioners to see first hand the progress being made. I want the increasing numbers of applications to the Insolvency Agency to be followed through so that the Department of Justice and Equality, Central Bank, the banks and MABS do their jobs and work with the borrowers. Without engagement, it will not work.

Could we have the microphone switched on?

We have been silenced.