Gilmore calls for Nama amendment on repossessions

THE NAMA legislation should be amended to provide for a moratorium on home repossessions for a period of time, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore told the Dáil.

“The people who are having difficulty today in repaying their mortgages are those who had good jobs a year or two ago and certainly at the time they took out the mortgage,” he said.

The ESRI, he said, estimated that the banks had 35,000 householders “in their sights”.

Mr Gilmore said that all kinds of arrangements could be made through the banks. It would make economic, social and family sense, he added.

Mr Gilmore made the suggestion during Opposition leaders’ questions.

Last night, the House passed the second stage of the Nama legislation and it now goes to the Oireachtas finance committee for the remaining stages.

The Government won three divisions, 77 to 73 and 77 to 71 twice, when challenged by the Opposition.

Closing the second stage debate, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan accused Mr Gilmore of engaging in “scaremongering for political purposes”.

Mr Lenihan announced that copies of a draft business plan, setting out how Nama would carry out its functions and duties, would be circulated to TDs last night.

“I must emphasise that a more detailed business plan will be prepared by the Nama board once the legislation is in place,” the Minister added.

Replying to Mr Gilmore earlier, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the Government would examine ways of expanding its own mortgage measures and a range of options and efforts would be made to assist in every way possible.

Regarding a possible moratorium, he said it was a question of being able to distinguish between those who were not in a position to pay and those who were refusing to do so.

“That issue would have to be considered in the context of any amendment that is put forward,” Mr Cowen added, “to ensure that on the one hand, we seek to protect people in difficulty while on the other, not compromising fund support for those institutions on an ongoing basis”.

Mr Gilmore said there was a problem in that it was being left to the goodwill and generosity of the banks.

Mr Gilmore warned that irrespective of the disposition of the banks to be generous and deal sympathetically with mortgage-holders, they would have a free hand as soon as the Nama legislation was passed and they had their money and their bad loans off their books.

Just as the banks were looking for a break from the Government, householders also needed a break.

The Nama legislation, he added, was not about giving a free hand to anybody. It was about restructuring and having a viable financial system that would be able to continue to provide mortgages to those who sought them.

Mr Cowen said that the revised Programme for Government had further strengthened the commitment to assist mortgage-holders who were under pressure due to changed economic circumstances.

The programme, he said, referred to introducing new measures to protect families who were experiencing difficulties with their repayments.

Mr Cowen added that the existing statutory code on mortgage arrears and the recently agreed protocol between the Irish Bankers Federation and the Money Advice and Budgeting Service on debt default, would be further reviewed with a view to expanding the options available for dealing with debt.

“These include, for example, the use by banks and other lenders of more flexible mechanisms to avoid foreclosure in appropriate circumstances,” he added.

“These could include reduced rates, longer maturity dates, rolling up of outstanding interest, banks taking equity in the house, and banks taking ownership and leasing back to the resident with payments coming off the loan.”