Taoiseach accused of failing to tackle issue

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been accused of passing the buck to bailed-out banks over failure to get a grip on the mortgage crisis.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin claimed the Government was not taking the situation seriously enough.

Mr Martin expressed concern that as 35,000 proposed “viable” solutions offered by banks to the end of June referred to surrender or repossession of property, the worries of families in distress were being intensified.

The Fianna Fáil leader said the number of households in arrears had quadrupled since 2009 and the Government needed to be treating the crisis with a greater degree of urgency.

Mr Kenny said the fault lay with institutions and indicated he was prepared to give extra powers to the Central Bank to deal with the situation if its governor Patrick Honohan felt it necessary.

“They themselves have their problems in that their people had become used to throwing out money all over the place without being able to deal with the crisis and the consequences of that,” he said.

“The point is the Central Bank, as the regulator, has now to audit the figures that have been submitted by the banks.”

Mr Kenny said about 80,000 mortgages had been restructured with sustainable solutions for both parties involved.

The Taoiseach insisted repossession was a final resort in particular cases.

“The family home in this country is of fundamental and immense importance to people and their families,” Mr Kenny told TDs.

The Taoiseach also attacked opposition claims that the Economic Management Council, made up of himself, the tánaiste, the finance minister, and the public expenditure minister, was not “dictating” the budget details to the rest of the Cabinet.