AIB has announced it is cutting mortgage interest rates on both owner-occupier and buy-to-let mortgages.

The ESRI has said there should be more flexibility on new Central Bank Mortgage regulations which mean buyers must have a deposit worth 20% of the asking price.

Holders of tracker mortgages will see their monthyl payments decrease after the European Central Bank cut its main interest rate by a quarter of 1% today.

The Central Bank has warned it is seriously concerned about a €9.3bn mortgage debt mountain in the main Irish banks.

International firm Investec has become the first company to enter the Irish mortgage market since 2008.

The chief executive of KBC Bank John Reynolds has said that the bank is not writing off debt for their most hard-pressed customers.

The mortgage arrears crisis here shows that household financial distress is at unprecedented levels, according to the Central Bank's governor.

The Taoiseach has said he is not happy with how long it is taking banks to deal with the mortgage arrears crisis.

The Irish Banking Federation says banks are committed to keeping roofs over people's heads.

More than 86,500 home loans were more than three months in arrears at the end of September, an increase of about 5,000 on figures released at the end of June.

AIB has said it is considering offering mortgage write-offs for some of its customers who are in severe difficulties with making their repayments.

The Taoiseach has defended plans to phase out existing support for householders struggling to pay their mortgage.

The Central Bank said today that Irish lenders have now provided details of how they plan to deal with the mortgage arrears crisis.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he he hopes insolvency legislation will be in the Dáil before the summer break, but emphasised that it will only be of benefit to individuals genuinely in distress with their debts.

Latest figures from the Central Bank published today confirm that almost 78,000 residential mortgages are in arrears of more than 90 days.

Irish banks will reportedly introduce a number of schemes aimed at dealing with the mortgage crisis over the next few weeks.

The Governor of the Central Bank will take a voluntary pay cut despite making profits of €1.2bn last year.

The Central Bank is to undertake a survey of 2,000 Irish households with mortgage debt.

Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan has said that a widespread debt forgiveness programme would be "unaffordable" for this country.