The Dublin Government has said it is committed to helping homeowners struggling with mortgage payments.

However, the Department of Finance has insisted that the Cabinet has not considered proposals on the matter to date.

The Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan said yesterday that the Government is considering introducing a range of measures before the summer to assist homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages.

He said a panel of external experts will be established shortly to advise the Government on how to deal with the growing number of people failing to meet mortgage repayments.

He said the team will be expected to come back with specific suggestions on how to change the current system and get people out of the debt difficulties, and to get the country going again.

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Mr Ryan said a range of different measures used internationally could be used in Ireland.

They included changing the terms of loans, changing the length of time they are paid back over, or changing the nature of the payments, such as a debt for equity swap.

The Minister said there were already a number of measures in place such as the moratorium on repossession, social welfare support and assisting people with mortgage difficulties.

Mr Ryan said that when people get into bankruptcy, the existing legal system does not work and does not suit anyone's purpose.

However, a spokesman for the Department for Finance said that while a number of measures were being looked at by the Government, "nothing has been taken to Cabinet yet".

A senior financial source suggested the main Irish banks were unlikely to move to repossess residential properties at this point as this would force them to book impairments on their balance sheets and would stress their finances further at a time when a significant amount of impaired assets are to transfer to Nama.

(BMcC/GK)