Central Bank must tackle the ticking bomb that is mortgage debt on devalued homes

SPURRED by the easy availability of 100% and 100%+ mortgages, the Central Bank allowed the volume of mortgage lending to expand by more than 500% in the past decade when the population expanded by just 19%.

It must belatedly stamp its authority on this sector beyond the issue of foreclosure prevention and instil the discipline of responsible lending and borrowing.

The ‘men-in-red-braces’ who define our sovereign financial standing will have noted, with curiosity, the recent remarks of Matthew Elderfield to an Oireachtas committee concerning the level of mortgage arrears.