Plans for a new centre-left party are believed to be close to completion amid private talks between leading Independent TDs and figures outside Leinster House.

Central Bank figures showing a slowdown in the numbers entering so-called early arrears fails to capture the huge scale of the home debt crisis, debt experts have said.

The finance minister has revealed plans to call in six of the country’s main mortgage lenders to discuss a reduction in interest rates.

Potential Government plans to keep struggling mortgage holders in their homes by bailing them out with taxpayers’ money have been criticised by the opposition for effectively letting banks “off the hook”.

The UK debt management agency Step Change will launch its services in Ireland by April, the Irish Examiner has learned.

If a growth in repossessions by the banks is not halted, it could spell real political trouble, according to Kyran Fitzgerald. Revenue is the biggest elephant in the room. It should be compelled to participate

High-profile mortgage debt campaigner David Hall has shared a pot of almost €800,000 in pay and rent from his private ambulance firm over the past two years.

New Beginning has apologised after it emerged it sent confidential details of around 1,500 clients to a partner agency in Malta.

The Data Protection Commissioner is investigating a data security breach at mortgage campaigners New Beginning.

More than €670m worth of Irish mortgages are to be sold to a US-based private equity firm for an undisclosed sum.

The Government’s decision to introduce consumer protection legislation for unregulated firms “is merely window dressing” and will have very little impact on customers in mortgage arrears, according to Ross Maguire from financial advice group, New Beginning. 

Welcome to your Monday morning briefing. Let us ensure you’re up to speed on what’s happening and are prepared for the day ahead.

BUSINESS is brisk at the newly opened Cork offices of New Beginning.

Mortgage lobby group New Beginning has said that the only reason Permanent TSB has decided to offer writedowns on mortgage debt is to discourage people from entering the insolvency process.

The Insolvency Service of Ireland has admitted it is off to a slow start after it secured just four mortgage write-downs for hopelessly overburdened debtors in its first seven months in operation.

None of the other major banks in Ireland are planning on following AIB’s steps and offering customer a debt write-off in limited circumstances.

A TSUNAMI is about to hit the courts.

Personal debt campaigners say hundreds of more people will soon benefit from the new insolvency regime.

The first person to benefit from a debt settlement under the new personal insolvency regime is reported to have had up to 70% of his debt written off.

Strict new deadlines for banks to conclude deals with mortgage holders in arrears of more than three months will see a rise in repossessions because it will force banks to “go after the low-hanging fruit”, warned the barrister Ross Maguire from the advocacy group, New Beginning.

Residents of the notorious Priory Hall ghost estate have urged Taoiseach Enda Kenny to resolve the long-running scandal after the tragic suicide of a man caught up in the crisis.

The New Beginning group is laying the foundations to become a fully-fledged political party after its co-founder last night declared: “A truly national political movement born free from failed politics can deliver real change.”

Legal proceedings to take repossession of the family home could start as soon as Oct 1 under a new code of conduct on mortgage arrears, being released by the Central Bank today.

Businessman David Hall has been awarded part of his legal costs for his failed challenge to the State's decision to pay promissory notes under which €31bn, to date, has been paid in aid of Irish financial institutions,

Promissory notes amounting to over €31bn in financial support for financial institutions, including the former Anglo Irish Bank, were flawed, and payment on them cannot now be made, it has been claimed.

The High Court has today begun hearing a challenge by New Beginning's founder David Hall to the legality of promissory notes.

Homeowners are being warned that collection of the new Local Property Tax will be strictly enforced and that any unpaid taxes, plus late payment interest, will have to cleared before their property can be legally sold or transferred.

Spain’s major banks have agreed to suspend house evictions for two years for the most financially vulnerable homeowners after two suicides in as many weeks.

One of the founders of the New Beginning organisation, which has been providing legal advice to people facing repossession of their homes, has quit the group claiming it had come under “external pressures”.

Restructuring of mortgages has done little to solve the mortgage crisis as more than half of all borrowers still cannot afford to meet repayments after their loans have been restructured.

New Beginning, the not-for-profit group which has been helping struggling homeowners battle a tide of house repossessions, is to open a specialist insolvency service in the summer.

A mortgage debt forgiveness group has described a bank settlement on a nurse’s €170,000 debt as “a watershed moment” for those facing life-long debt.

A businessman has gone to court in a bid to stop the State paying out €30bn worth of promissory notes to Anglo Irish Bank and two other financial institutions.

The mortgage crisis has reached record proportions, with one in seven homeowners now unable to meet their repayments and over 100,000 homes at risk.

At least 270,000 homeowners are set to see their mortgage interest payments fall.

The Personal Insolvency Bill unveiled yesterday by Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is designed to reform the country’s outdated bankruptcy laws.

THE number of hard-pressed people seeking legal advice over debt burdens soared by more than a third in the run-up to Christmas, it has been revealed.

The number of hard-pressed citizens seeking legal advice over debt burdens soared by more than a third in the run-up to Christmas, it has been revealed.

GRASSROOTS groups of mortgage holders are to come together as one national mass movement over the coming weeks in order to force action on mortgage distress, insolvency law reform and repossession.

The European Commission has said the bailout troika has not asked banks to consider allowing mortgage holders to take a temporary break from their repayments.

WITH an infant and a 5-year-old to care for, Kathrina Bielecke had not factored in a house move just two months into her maternity leave.

THE Government’s plan to solve the mortgage debt crisis has been criticised as vague and lacking in urgency, amid claims it backtracked on key election promises.

Some groups working to help those in mortgage arrears have criticised the new Keane report which offers solutions as to how the Government can deal with the growing problem of mortgage debt.

PROTESTERS stationed outside the latest fire sale of repossessed properties denounced the auction — but try telling David Glennon it’s a bad thing.