I welcome the announcement that distressed home owners with mortgages with AIB and the EBS will be able to avail of an independent third party facilitator who will advise them and engage with the lender on their behalf.

Paid by the bank.

This service is to be paid for by AIB and provided by the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation. I have said on many occasions in this House that it is inappropriate for banks to be acting as the sole judge and jury over their own borrowers. The fact of the matter, and we all know this from engaging with borrowers directly ourselves, is that many borrowers are intimidated in dealing with their lending institution and it certainly is not an equal relationship. Many borrowers do not feel that they are on an equal footing in dealing with their lending institutions. I hope this service will be effective and that it will be properly resourced by AIB and will lead to more sustainable mortgage solutions. However, the fact remains that many borrowers who are not with AIB or the EBS need such a service. They need an expert to stand between them and the lending institution. I have proposed on a number of occasions in this House that an expert arm of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, which is an excellent service but unfortunately very under-resourced in dealing with the current crisis, should be established to operate on a regional basis that would be available for all borrowers, irrespective of the lending institution with which they are dealing.

That is a very good idea.

Senator Aideen Hayden sounds like she is in opposition.

There is no reason such a service should not be funded by the banks and the other lenders operating in the Irish market. In that context I ask the Leader to invite the Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, to the House to give us a progress report on the work of MABS in the area of mortgage arrears and the way such a service could be enlarged to provide a national expert service to cover all the lenders in the State.