The Master of the High Court, who has been a vocal critic of the way banks handle repossession cases, has been told to stop dealing with all debt cases.

Recent weeks marked a significant turning point in the long-running mortgage arrears saga where the policy of kicking the can down the road has started running out of road.

Why should I continue to pay my mortgage if the State is to bail out those who aren’t paying theirs?

The Master of the High Court, Edmund Honohan, is correct in identifying the Government’s failure to address in any coherent way the concerns of the thousands of people in mortgage arrears.

Here are all the latest headlines this lunchtime.

The Master of the High Court has described advice given by the Taoiseach to a person facing repossession as “a sick joke” and said the Government is “misinformed” about the situation impacting many families.

WHEN Fianna Fáil set up Nama in 2009, it was a painful but necessary response to Ireland’s financial crisis, notwithstanding the fact that the party bore major responsibility for the economic meltdown in the first place.

Local authorities are set to significantly miss their targets for spending on building social houses, despite the country’s escalating housing crisis.

Banks will face scrutiny of their mortgage loan books and will have to justify their dealings with distressed home loan borrowers in the programme for government agreed by Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly is facing fresh calls to publish the legal advice he says prevented him from adopting tough measures on the housing crisis, after experts challenged his claim such action would breach the Constitution.

The High Court has granted an injunction against the Master of the High Court, Edmund Honohan, following his decision to refer papers on a case to the DPP for a perjury investigation.

The Master of the High Court warned "fast-track" procedures under which banks get final-money judgments solely on a judge’s view of the credibility of any sworn written defence, may breach the entitlements of defendants under the European Convention on Human Rights.

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.

An accountant who was found to have acted reprehensibly by misleading the Moriarty Tribunal to protect Michael Lowry has helped to secure a €650,000 judgment against the disgraced former minister.

The Taoiseach has refused to intervene in an escalating row between the judiciary and the Justice Minister, Alan Shatter, but said there were “legitimate issues” that need to be discussed.

Judges should reflect on whether their row with the Government over independence are in the public interest, writes Dan Buckley

The President of the High Court, Nicholas Kearns, has rowed in on the row over judicial independence.

FAIR dues to Edmund Honohan. The master of the high court has called it as he sees it. His job means that he has the role akin to air traffic controller in processing legal debt conflict.

FAMILIES facing home repossession had their hopes of any immediate rescue dashed after the Government firmly ruled out debt forgiveness.

THE row over claims by the Master of the High Courts that repossession threats led to suicides among struggling mortgage holders deepened yesterday after bankers dismissed the remarks as inflammatory and emotive.

CONSOLE launched its Snowdrop Campaign amid continuing fallout over comments made by the Master of the High Court regarding banks allegedly driving debtors to suicide.

THE Irish Bankers’ Federation was absolutely right when it described as “emotive” the claim by the Master of the High Court Edmund Honohan that banks were driving debt-ridden borrowers to suicide.

The Government has today ruled out widespread debt forgiveness for struggling borrowers in the face of a High Court warning that banks are hounding their own customers to suicide.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore is promising that legislation to deal with bankruptcy will be fast-tracked this year.

PRESSURE on the Government to draft laws allowing some debt forgiveness for struggling homeowners and others facing crippling debts has mounted after the Master of the High Court said repossessions were causing untold social harm, including suicides.

STRUGGLING home-owners facing repossession are carrying arrears amounting to an eighth or more of their original mortgage loan, according to a snapshot survey of borrowers before the courts.

THE Master of the High Court has issued guidelines for under-stress borrowers, as he revealed that 600 new cases for repossession of homes had come before him since early June.

BANKS must help bail out people struggling to repay mortgages and shoulder some of the pain, according to the Master of the High Court.

THERE can be few situations more distressing than the prospect of losing your home. Being turned out on the side of the road, put out of the house where you and your partner planned to build your family’s future might unnerve the best of us.

LENDERS must abide with a code of conduct aimed at helping people in mortgage arrears, the Master of the High Court Edmund Honohan warned yesterday.

IAN BAILEY, twice arrested and released without charge in connection with the investigation into the killing of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, is to seek damages for wrongful arrest.

THERE has been a dramatic decrease in the number of repossessions orders granted in the Dublin High Court over the last month.

An avalanche of home repossession cases is expected to come down on the courts this year, a senior High Court official declared today.

THE High Court yesterday adjourned for three weeks an application for discovery of documents in an action for libel brought by Wayne O’Donoghue, the 23-year-old engineering student who was convicted of the manslaughter of Midleton schoolboy Robert Holohan.

THE Law Society has hit out against the High Court after criticisms of it in the wake of high profile cases of solicitors manipulating mortgage applications.

THE State’s most senior courts official last night launched a scathing attack on some members of the legal profession, claiming the mood for seismic change was now unstoppable in the wake of the overcharging scandal.

ATTITUDES towards the legal profession will undoubtedly be coloured by the outcome of the Law Society’s investigation into double charging of clients by solicitors which begins today.

THE State has been accused of having a history of not co-operating with the legal representatives of Frank McBrearty Jnr, who is suing in connection with his detention for alleged murder eight years ago.