Debating the Land and Conveyancing Reform Bill
On Wednesday May 1, 2013, the Dail began to discuss Minister Alan Shatter’s Land Conveyancing Reform Bill, which aims to fix the lacuna in the law relating to repossessions. I welcome the limited protection the bill offers borrowers, but believe there are some important amendments required to ensure that repossessions are not an easy option...
Repossessions and the Live Register on the Late Debate
I was on RTE’s Late Debate on Wednesday, May 1, 2013, with Ross Maguire of New Beginnings, Paul Joyce of FLAC and Arthur Spring of Labour. We were discussing the Land and Conveyancing Reform Bill 2013 and the live register figures.
Submission to the Central Bank of Ireland on the CCMA
Earlier in this week I made a submission to the Central Bank of Ireland on their review of the Codes of Conduct for Mortgage Arrears, or CCMA for short. I’m calling on them to ensure the updated codes strengthen measures that protect borrowers in arrears. These borrowers are already lacking the independent advice and legislative...
Garda Siochana: the thin blue line in the red
The gardaí made the news last week: walkouts, meetings with the Taoiseach and protests at the Dáil. Their frustration has been triggered by Croke Park II – a perfect example of bad economics meeting out-of-date reform. Many say morale is at the lowest level in memory. Yet this is unnecessary – smarter economic policy and...
Plans to tackle the Mortgage Arrears Crisis Favour the Banks
The mortgage crisis is now so large that it risks financially destroying an entire generation and keeping our economy on the rocks for a decade. Wednesday’s announcement of new targets for restructuring mortgages looked like it might help. Predictably, the detail betrayed another sorry tale of Ireland putting institutions ahead of citizens. The plan could...
The Scorpion and the Fox
Earlier this week, Michael Noonan expressed his desire for the banks to get on with addressing the personal debt crisis. The Troika, the banking regulator and the Governor of the Central Bank have all made similar noises in recent months. And well they might. Nearly one in five residential mortgages is in arrears, or some...
