Irish banks are to write off unsecured debt of struggling borrowers under a new protocol unveiled by the Irish Banking Federation (IBF).

With difficulty winning mortgage approval and facing tough competition from cash buyers, it wasn’t an easy year for first-time buyers.

Just under 1,700 mortgages were approved by Irish lenders in October, representing a monthly increase of 10.3% in the homeloan approval rate.

The volume of new mortgage lending increased by over 10%, on a year-on-year basis, during the third quarter of the year — the first time any quarter has shown an annualised rise for six years.

The Irish Banking Federation (IBF) claims there are “fundamental weaknesses” with the Central Bank report which found small businesses here faced some of the most challenging credit conditions in the eurozone.

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.

A number of schemes to tackle the mortgage crisis are to be introduced next month by banks and financial institutions.

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.

A NEW banking code giving struggling mortgage-holders more time in coping with arrears and holding onto their home is expected to be put to the public later this week.

BANK customers are being ripped off by a combination of complex pricing, hidden charges and inappropriate advice, according to a major EU report.

CAMPAIGNING lawyers have urged the Government to step in to stall or prevent the repossession of family homes in the same way they bailed out the banks.

CROOKS are resorting to mobile phone technology to trick consumers into divulging their bank details to a bogus automated hotline.

BANK customers are due to receive notices warning them that their personal data may be passed to United States authorities screening for terrorists.

A BANK is to stop handling cash at one of its branches in Dublin after a series of raids on the outlet.

SOLICITORS who inappropriately charged clients for work on abuse cases should be prosecuted, according to a British-based institutional survivors group.

SECURITY companies have been exposing themselves to risk for years in order to suit the opening hours of some banks, it was claimed yesterday.

BANKS contributed less than half of the €40 million cost of nearly 10,000 cash deliveries escorted by gardaí and the Defence Forces over a four year period, figures showed yesterday.

THE massive increase in the level of credit card debt in the past three years has fuelled fears tens of thousands of people face crippling bills.

THE failure of banks to pass on European interest rate cuts has cost consumers €1 billion in extra interest charges, the Oireachtas Finance Committee heard yesterday.

THE Government has made up to €68m by increasing credit card charges.

BORROWERS may not get the full benefit of the 0.5% cut in interest rates announced by the European Central Bank.

FEARS that consumers will bear the brunt the €300 million levy imposed on the banks was one of the hot post-Budget topics yesterday.

CREDIT CARD fraud is up between 10 and 20% despite a drop in the number of credit card transactions from €69 million in 2000 to €63 million last year.