A LETTER writer to The Irish Timeswho said his children were going hungry because of the burden of paying off his mortgage says he now plans to seek help from local support services.
MP MacDomhnaill, of Tralee, Co Kerry, whose letter – published last Friday – drew widespread media attention, told this newspaper yesterday he would also seek to renegotiate the mortgage repayments with his bank.
He was speaking after a number of public figures, including Minster for Social Protection Joan Burton, urged him to contact the welfare organisations in his area to get help.
In his letter and a subsequent interview with The Irish Times, Mr MacDomhnaill said his family was living on bread and breakfast cereal and had just €35 a week to spend on groceries because the vast majority of the household income was going to service a mortgage of €80,000.
After losing his job earlier this year he was getting €188 a week from social welfare as well as a monthly children’s allowance of €280. All told his monthly household income was €1,032, and monthly mortgage repayments were €780.
“I don’t want to comment on the individual details but the man and his family are obviously in an awful lot of distress,” Ms Burton said on RTÉ Radio yesterday.
However, she urged him to make contact with his local social welfare officer or the local community welfare officer, “or even the St Vincent de Paul Society because I think he may have entitlements which he may not have already claimed”.
Specifically, she referred to the mortgage interest supplement, which will pay the interest portion of a homeowner’s mortgage repayments.
It will not contribute to the portion of the repayment that pays off the actual loan and nor does it cover house insurance, which is often tied to the loan.
To qualify, a person must have taken out the mortgage when they could afford the repayments. The house cannot be on the market and the amount of mortgage interest payable cannot be more than the amount the Health Service Executive considers reasonable to meet an individual’s residential needs.
Figures released by Ms Burton yesterday show the number of families receiving help under the mortgage interest supplement and rent relief schemes have increased by almost 340 per cent in the last three years.
She said 18,679 households had received payments under the mortgage interest supplement scheme at a cost of €77.2 million this year, up almost €12 million from 2010.
The Irish Times has had extensive communication with Mr MacDomhnaill, who said he did not wish to give too many media interviews in order to protect his family’s privacy. He said he wrote the letter because he hoped it “might facilitate a discussion”.
He added: “I hope that the issue and issues raised will generate useful public debate and positive action.”