The running sore of mortgage arrears — eight years after the onset of the financial crisis — is back on top of the political agenda as Independent TDs negotiate their participation in a new government, the Irish Examiner has learned.

Consumers whose mortgages or other loans have been transferred to unregulated entities will receive the same protection as was the case prior to their loan being sold — even if the transfer took place prior to the introduction of new legislation.

The number of Permanent TSB mortgage holders who will face repossession is set to increase in the coming years, the bank’s head of asset management confirmed yesterday.