Madam, – With the term “debt forgiveness” now deemed as unwelcome as “default” by our European owners, and being a taxpayer and part-owner of the Irish banking system, might I suggest the following solution regarding stressed mortgages? I believe all single mortgages taken out since around 2005 should have 40 per cent of the principal sum converted into a 150-year lease mortgage, (which could move with the sale of the property), and could be paid, in these cases, in lieu of any emerging property tax. This inflation-linked annual sum would maintain the potential value of the property on the books of the bank as it is simply elongating a part of the debt and relieving the debtor of a substantial, and currently, unsustainable burden.
This move would also release money into the stagnant domestic economy and would, at least, secure families in their own homes. The Government should not act as sheriffs on behalf of the wealthy alone. – Yours, etc,