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THOUSANDS of people will end up homeless if the Government don’t start putting structures in place to support homeowners who are struggling with their mortgage repayments.

We have 33,000 mortgages in difficulty across the country and 250,000 homeowners who are estimated to be in a negative equity situation.

The continued plight of homeowners and the lack of assistance for them only serves to contribute to the ongoing economic depression in the country. It fuels fears of home repossession and feeds the current downward cycle of financial insecurity, consumer confidence, lower spending and unemployment.

To date there has been relief for banks as their distressed loans have been taken over by NAMA and we want that situation to be developed for homeowners aswell. Fine Gael have called for a NAMA for mortgage holders in the form of an amendment to the NAMA bill. We think the government should set up structures whereby NAMA can take on the mortgage and sell part of it back to the homeowners.

It makes absolute sense for the Government to step in from a social point of you, a health point of view and an economic point of view because ultimately if people cannot afford to continue to live in their family home, the government are going to be faced with housing these people through our social housing scheme.”