The government has been accused of "watering down" its promises to help families who are in mortgage arrears.

Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty TD said the government has forgotten about the 80,000 families and has "taken its eye off the ball when it comes to mortgages".

He said: "421 properties were taken into possession by lenders during the third quarter of 2016. That is over four homes a day being taken over. The government think this issue is gone away- they think it’s in the past. They are wrong.

-- Advertisement --

"Promises to review the insolvency thresholds and set up a new Special Mortgages Court sit on the legislative programme 6 months after they were due to be published. A commitment that the Central Bank would amend the Code of Conduct seems to have been rebuffed altogether by Governor Lane.

"The Abhaile- MABS service is up and running but is only scratching the surface in the numbers of people in arrears it has helped out.

"Sinn Féin will put in placed real solutions, not promises.

"We will protect the Family Home in law to a greater degree. My legislation to do exactly that was voted down in 2013. We also do not accept that vultures are part of the solution. If we can't get rid of them they need to be taxed, regulated and not fed by the State's own banks."

(CD/MH)