Laws to aid struggling mortgage owners to be introduced this week
Mr Noonan also admitted yesterday it was “scary” how Ireland last year came close to another property boom.
The commencement order for the court review provisions of the Personal Insolvency legislation will be signed this week.
The changes will allow individuals to seek a review of a bank’s veto when it comes to their debt arrangements.
A range of measures and rights to help those with serious debts, including mortgage holders, will come into effect.
Mr Noonan said the order would be signed by his Cabinet colleague, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.
The changes will allow a debtor to seek review by the circuit court where creditors have rejected a personal insolvency deal.
Mr Noonan told the Dáil the latest mortgage figures show many loans continue to be drawn down, but he said we were on the cusp of another bubble last year.
“Housing prices, particularly in Dublin, were escalating rapidly at the time and the position looked a little scary just after Christmas last year.
"There was also considerable commentary in the newspapers suggesting we were heading straight back to a housing spiral, which would result in inflated housing prices, more people being in negative equity, and another bust.”
The minister defended the new Central Bank deposit rules for home buyers, despite claims by the opposition that they have restricted borrowers.
Residential mortgage lending in the nine months to the end of September amounted to €3.4bn, which was 35% higher than the same period last year, he said, despite the new rule coming in earlier this year.
Elsewhere, Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty said 98,137 mortgage holders were in mortgage arrears.
“The number of repossession orders granted is also increasing.
"In 2013, the figure stood at 244. By 2014, it had increased to 644 and, for the first nine months of 2015, stood at 1,088. These figures reflect an increase of more than 400% in two years and refer solely to orders that have been granted,” he said.
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