Debt crisis ‘raging out of control’

The mortgage crisis is starting to “rage beyond control” and will take years to resolve, experts warned as new figures show the numbers of people in arrears for more than 90 days is continuing to rise.

A policy of debt-forgiveness is the most effective way of solving the mortgage crisis which will otherwise fester for years, said University of Limerick economist Stephen Kinsella.

He was reacting to the latest figures from the Central Bank showing 95,554 residential mortgages in arrears by more than 90 days at the end of March, which is up from the 92,349 mortgages in arrears by a similar period at the end of last December.