Mortgage arrears special court
Deputy Doherty asked when the promised mortgage special court or arrears Bill would appear, citing persistent home repossessions and arrears. The Taoiseach said he could not give a date, noted possible constitutional issues, and promised progress updates.
When will the mortgage special court Bill, which is also named the mortgage arrears Bill, see the light of day? This was a central commitment in the programme for Government more than a year ago. We have startling data over the period of this Government and the last Government. Since 2013, 5,306 family homes were repossessed through court orders or voluntary surrenders.
There have been 28,917 family homes subject to court cases. We see today that more than 33,000 households are in excess of two years in arrears, and the amount by which they are in arrears is increasing. Where will this special mortgage court take place? When will the heads of the Bill be published? When will the mortgage arrears Bill be published, or is this just another of the Government's false promises last year?
Comment on this
It is not a false promise, but I cannot give Deputy Doherty a date as to when the court will be set up. The legal advice is that there may be some constitutional difficulties with the way it has been proposed. I will advise Deputy Doherty on the progress being made to deal with the matter.