STATEMENT BY COUNCILLOR JOHN MULVIHILL JNR

*MORTGAGE RESCUE SCHEME URGENTLY NEEDED IN COBH*

The assertion by Respond, Ireland’s largest housing charity that 2010 could be the toughest year yet for homeowners provides a salutary warning.

It is my view that the fears of Respond are all-too-well founded, and with strong indications that mortgage interest rates will begin to move upwards as early as March, it is almost inevitable that the number of people in Cobh facing difficulties meeting mortgage repayments, will increase.

In an environment where unemployment figures continue to sky-rocket the impact of any interest increases will hit particularly hard. I share the worries of Respond that the 26,000 families whose mortgages are currently in arrears will be just the tip of the iceberg.

The call from Respond to introduce a Mortgage Rescue Scheme, as promised in October in the Programme for Government should be heeded. This is something that the Labour Party has proposed in the Dáil, but which the Fianna Fail/Green Government has so far failed to act on.