Banks are addressing the problem of mortgage arrears in accordance with the timeline set out by the Central Bank of Ireland, the Irish Banking Federation today.
Speaking in response to comments made by Fiona Muldoon yesterday, IBF spokesman Felix O’Regan said while the process had been "frustratingly slow" there were a lot of complexities involved, as every case is different.
He added that all the banks had received “a very detailed communication" from the Central Bank at the start of the year, which said they had until May to submit mortgage arrears resolution plans.
Mr O'Regan told RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme the banks were "all in agreement on the importance of dealing with the issue of mortgage arrears" adding "the banks have committed huge resources. There are 3,000 people as we speak working across the sector to deal with this".
In a strongly worded speech to a conference of bankers, Ms Muldoon, the Central Bank’s head of banking regulation, said that the banks were behaving like teenagers in responding to its requests to deal with the problem with mortgages.
The Central Bank has led on the issues; the banks have waited to be told what to do and not particularly liked it when we have done just that,” she told the Irish Banking Federation conference.
Ms Muldoon queried whether bankers were hoping for an economic recovery or an increase in house prices to solve the crisis.
"This is the stuff of denial. Hope is not a strategy – any more than anger," she told the bankers.
She said they needed to “move on” from the mistakes of the past and to concentrate on fixing them but that a culture of leadership was missing in the industry.
