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.

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 entry of Pepper Homeloans is good news but will fail to loosen to any significant extent the grip Bank of Ireland and AIB holds over the Irish mortgage market, a leading mortgage expert has said.

A man who is celebrating holding on to his home after securing a 53% mortgage writedown required morphine doses to deal with severe migraines while his wife contemplated suicide over the debt.

The sun is out. Time to get your kit on, says Annmarie O’Connor.

A significant disparity between larger banks and smaller competitors has emerged in terms of their success in finding solutions for lower-income families to remain in their homes as part of a government scheme.

The firm behind the €65m Westpark business park in Shannon has sealed a bank deal that significantly reduces the €38.5m it owed in bank loans.

A Clare man said yesterday his partner’s health “is shagged” from the stresses of dealing with their worsening mortgage debt.

Danske bank has announced that Pepper Asset Servicing will administer the accounts of their 14,000 mortgages holders after they pull out of consumer banking in Ireland.

The firm behind the €65m Westpark business park in the Shannon Free Zone has stated it is confident that its €38m loans with Danske Bank can be refinanced with another financial institution.

Up to 100 jobs are to be created by Pepper, an asset servicing company, in Dublin and Co Clare.