Focus on employment not debt forgiveness

THE sometimes irrational debate on mortgage debt relief rumbles on and on.

The public in general could now be forgiven for being totally confused about what is really going on and what is likely to happen to those mortgage holders who are currently struggling with their mortgages.

New figures from the Central Bank earlier this week showed that at the end of June, 55,763 mortgage holders were in arrears for 90 days or more and a further 39,395 mortgages have been restructured and the new repayment commitments are being met. This means 7.2% of total mortgage holders were in arrears at the end of June. For those in arrears, the total amount of arrears stood at €947 million in June. This means that average arrears per mortgage holder in trouble stood at €16,989.