Young homeowners are most at risk of going into mortgage arrears if the European Central Bank raises interest rates.

The Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan will this morning seek cabinet approval to publish a bill aimed at broadening the factors that judges need to take into account when considering repossessions.

More than 3,300 households in serious mortgage arrears have been spared the loss of their homes with the help of the Abhaile scheme.

Well over half of the country’s most distressed mortgages will end up in the hands of so-called non-bank firms if the planned home loan sales go ahead, leading legal and debt adviser Paul Joyce has said.

Statistics will tell you that there are in the region of 30,000 households in mortgage arrears in Ireland. They will also reveal that the number of family home mortgages in arrears of 720 days or more rose by over 50%, from 19,541 in 2012 to 29,509 this year.

The vast majority of homeowners facing repossession are trying to handle legal proceedings without the help of solicitors or other supports.

The Government said that for the time being there is no need to revise the code of conduct that governs the behaviour of mortgage lenders to their distressed customers in arrears.

Vulture funds will escape tougher regulations after a Central Bank report for the government and finance minister recommended no changes be made to the current code on mortgage arrears.

Insolvency experts are warning that mortgage arrears are still leading some homeowners to thoughts of suicide as the level of insurmountable household debt remains stubbornly high.

Ulster Bank has announced it will be selling 6,500 Irish mortgages in arrears which have a face value of €1.6bn.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is expected to bring proposals to regulate vulture funds who buy up mortgages to Cabinet this week.

Fianna Fáil has today defended its bid to ensure the full regulation of so-called 'vulture funds'.

A leading campaigner for mortgage holders has warned that vulture funds will not show any mercy to PTSB customers who have difficulty paying.

Irish courts are not fully applying consumer and human rights laws that could prevent unfair evictions.

The reduction in mortgage arrears is “painfully slow”, almost 10 years after the financial crash, the Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac) has warned.

One in 10 homeowners are behind with repayments on their mortgage, official figures have revealed.

Households struggling with mortgage debt are being advised to reach out and get free professional advice, as research shows two-thirds of borrowers are unaware of free support services.

An insolvency expert, who was involved in a landmark High Court debt case, has urged local authorities to avail of an underused government-backed initiative to help ease the mortgage arrears crisis.

The state’s Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) has rolled out a new service to help homeowners struggling with mortgage debt. The new dedicated mortgage arrears service will include the provision of court mentors at repossession sittings right across the country.

The number of households in arrears on mortgage payments on their homes has fallen by almost one third in less than two years, according to the latest data from the Department of Finance.

Higher than necessary mortgage rates for borrowers act as a “drag” on the economy but any interference with lenders risks damaging the long-term prospects of banks, an analysis by the Central Bank has concluded.

State-owned Allied Irish Bank has defended relief given to mortgage holders and said its customer base is growing and that it is dropping interest rates.

Bank chiefs are set to be quizzed today on how they propose to offer families with variable rate mortgages a reprieve or otherwise face the threat of Government action.

New measures will be announced next week to address the mortgage arrears crisis which will allow struggling borrowers remain in their homes through a variety of ways, Enda Kenny has confirmed.

AIB has confirmed that over 5,700 owner-occupied homes in mortgage arrears face being taken over by the bank amid suggestions that a “tsunami” of repossessions are on the way.

Almost 140,000 AIB variable mortgage holders look set to get a cut in their interest rates by the summer.

“If there was a hole I could have jumped into and covered it over and gone to sleep and never woke up, both my wife and I would have taken that option.”

More help for households with mortgage arrears could be on the way after widespread criticism of the manner in which banks are dealing with the crisis.

Little has been done to increase the level of support available to people as they seek to restructure mortgage debt, writes Noeline Blackwell.

The Central Bank needs to intervene with lenders to ensure they are giving struggling families sustainable mortgage debt solutions, and not just crisis management options, a TD has warned.

Bank of Ireland will seek to veto any personal insolvency arrangement which includes a full or partial mortgage debt write-off.

Almost half of Ulster Bank mortgage customers in long-term arrears are in the process of having their homes repossessed, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

Only one in 10 of distressed mortgage holders will qualify for the split mortgage solution that includes a significant debt write-down, head of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation (IMHO), David Hall, has said.

The Master of the High Court has warned that judges lack knowledge about new laws concerning repossession cases as the mortgage market begins to be “sliced and diced”.

The Government has been criticised for failing to fully inform struggling mortgage borrowers of their rights and protections as concerns emerge over so-called vulture funds buying up Irish loans.

A woman said she “panicked” and hid a bank’s repossession letter from her husband, as experts warned that families in mortgage arrears they can no longer ignore the problems as this will be “the year of the repossessions”.

People in mortgage arrears were yesterday warned that “sticking your head in the sand will not help”.

Figures from the Department of Finance show that the number of mortgages in arrears of more than 90 days has declined to just under 79,500.

Banks will have to make loss provisions in their 2014 financial accounts if they fail to meet mortgage arrears targets set down by the Central Bank.

Despite repeated acknowledgement that mortgage arrears is a serious issue for both the Government and the Central Bank, neither has made an appropriate response to the scale of the problem that will help people struggling with debt. We need an intervention that will even the balance between lender and borrower.

Slow progress on tackling the mortgage debt crisis has been singled out as a major concern by the troika.

The Government should look at introducing measures for making home repossessions more efficient, including the designation of specialist judges, according to the IMF in its latest review of the economy.