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Banks let ‘off the hook’ by Irish mortgage bailout

Adam Williams
Written By:
Adam Williams
Posted:
Updated:
13/04/2015

Plans to bail out those in arrears to Irish banks would let mortgage lenders ‘off the hook’, a critic of the scheme has stated.

The Irish government plans to use taxpayer cash to help those in mortgage arrears, but the idea is facing an increasing backlash.

Irish property went through a huge boom between the late 90s and the global financial crisis of the last decade. However, prices are yet to recover across the nation and people are increasingly struggling to pay their mortgages.

This has forced the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition government to make plans to assist these homeowners.

Fianna Fail, the official opposition party, said the proposals would represent “another bailout of the banks by responsible taxpayers”, the Sunday Independent reported.

Under the proposals, the Irish government would help homeowners who are unable to afford their mortgage payments. This would be achieved by banks restructuring the loan and receiving cash from the government to do so.

“The State has to be conscious of the many thousands of families who are meeting their mortgage repayments through great sacrifice. Any scheme providing direct support would have to be very carefully constructed,” Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath said.

“Such a policy is letting the banks off the hook again, it is a direct transfer from the taxpayer to banks which have already been handsomely capitalised at the same taxpayer’s expense,” he added.

As many as 30,000 families are thought to be struggling with mortgage repayments in the country.