##rs resolution service ( abhaile ), the personal insolvency regime, and a court mentor service. collectively, these protections have kept the vast majority of distressed borrowers in their homes, despite the scale of mortgage arrears experienced following the financial crisis. at the end of 2018, less than one in sixteen mortgages relating to private dwelling homes are in arrears over 90 days. in 2018 there were over twenty two thousand ( 22, 171 ) new restructure arrangements for mortgages relating to private dwelling homes. this brings the total number of private dwelling homes loans categorised as restructured to over 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches one hundred and ten thousand ( 111, 504 ) as at the end of 2018. in addition, over three thousand distressed borrowers have secured personal insolvency arrangements, which return borrowers to solvency, while keeping them in their home in over 95 % of cases. the enactment of this bill will not offer new or existing borrowers any additional regulatory consumer protection and it could have negative consequences for the functioning of the mortgage market, with wider implications for all mortgage borrowers. functioning of the mortgage market the enactment of the bill in its current form would hamper the ability of banks to access marketbased sources of financing using mortgages as collateral, such as securitisations and covered bonds. access to such forms of finance helps diversify the funding base and achieve lower funding costs relative to issuing unsecured bonds. constraints on the ability to mobilise mortgages as collateral to raise funding through these market - based channels could ultimately limit the availability, or increase the cost, of mortgage credit. at a time when the severe dysfunction in the irish mortgage market is finally easing, this bill could, unintentionally, slow or even reverse that progress. it would certainly give further pause for thought for any firm considering entering the irish market by increasing the cost of doing business in ireland and effectively limiting the funding available for mortgage lending. we do not believe this in the interests of current and future mortgage borrowers. financial stability during the financial crisis, the ability of irish banks to post securitisations and covered bonds as collateral was crucial to allow them to borrow from the eurosystem to meet their acute liquidity needs. total monetary policy lending provided to irish - domiciled banks rose to a high of €140 billion towards the end of 2010, of which approximately 40 % was collateral

simply, this means the banking system is more likely to be impaired in times of stress and less capable of supplying credit to households and businesses. conclusion to conclude, and as the governor noted at this committee on march 26, the central bank has grave concerns about this bill, given its potentially far - reaching implications for the operation of the banking system and for consumers. while designed to give effect to a voluntary code dating from 1991, the regulated financial services sector has changed fundamentally in the intervening three decades, and consumer protection has been strengthened. the voluntary code has been superseded by statutory codes of conduct and wide - ranging and strong regulatory powers which are underpinned by intrusive supervision. as such, our view is that this bill will not offer borrowers any additional regulatory consumer protections, and instead could have significant unintended consequences to the longer term detriment of all borrowers. in that respect, we concur with the ecb ’ s view that the bill, at a minimum, should undergo a thorough impact assessment to ensure it is in the best interests of consumers as a whole. i look forward to your questions. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches