untreated, whether sustainably or not. for example, bis central bankers ’ speeches of 98, 000 personal dwelling home ( pdh ) accounts more than 90 days in arrears at end june, fully 74, 000 – or three out of every four – were not yet in an arrangement. why have the banks been so slow in acting? it may be, as many have suggested, that the delay in correcting the legislative defect identified by the dunne judgement did represent a delay – though it should not have deterred non - repossession action. the moratorium, and the ccma restrictions designed to prevent harassment by debt collectors, likely have contributed to some delay, but have also been used as excuses. in any event, the moratorium and other ccma rules have now been streamlined in such a way as to retain sufficient protections for distressed borrowers – a legitimate and important objective – while generating little or no obstacle to efficiently organised collection procedures. the legislative defect identified in the dunne judgement has also eventually been corrected, as was recommended by the central bank. more important has been the fact that the task required a much more focused and effective organisational effort at scale than the banks at first realized, a deficiency which they have been progressively overcoming, since we started to audit and critique their procedures more intensively in 2011. i believe that there is also a gap between the analysis of the central bank and that of some of the banks with regard to the need for clarity and predictability about the solutions being proposed. the central bank wants to be sure that there is sufficient clarity about the arrangement, for example in regard to the treatment of the borrower ’ s liability for the shortfall in a loan following an assisted sale or repossession, or for the warehoused part of a split mortgage. some of the banks have expressed the opinion that a degree of uncertainty about how these elements will be treated could help ensure that the bank recovers as much as possible. the central bank believes to the contrary that, with such a widespread systemic problem of debtor distress, greater clarity on what is residually owed in these circumstances is safer for the lender in guarding against any erosion of the debt servicing culture, as well as helping a broader restoration of household confidence which will help the wider economic recovery and through that boost loan recoverability. in particular, the central bank regards as unwise the creation of a situation where, because of such uncertainty, the lender and borrower hold inconsistent

gabriel makhlouf : opening remarks – “ enterprise financing and investment in ireland – tackling the challenges of covid - 19, digitalisation and climate change ” opening remarks by mr gabriel makhlouf, governor of the central bank of ireland, at the webinar “ enterprise financing and investment in ireland – tackling the challenges of covid - 19, digitalisation and climate change ”, jointly hosted by the central bank of ireland, economic & social research institute ( esri ) and european investment bank ( eib ) and held in partnership with the kemmy business school, university of limerick, 19 april 2021. * * * good afternoon, it is a pleasure to welcome you all to this webinar on enterprise financing and investment in ireland, with a particular focus on the challenges of covid - 19, digitalisation and climate change. we in the central bank are delighted to host this event with our colleagues from the economic and social research institute ( esri ), the european investment bank and the kemmy business school from the university of limerick. and i would like to thank all of our speakers today including minister for finance, pascal donohoe, minister of state for business, employment and retail, damien english, and christian kettel thomsen, vice - president of the european investment bank. an event like this highlights the wide range of actors and agencies that have an interest and a stake in the success and the resilience of the enterprise sector. indeed, our own presentation today is of work undertaken jointly with the esri, using data collected by the department of finance, highlighting just how important collaboration is in addressing the key problems facing our economies and our societies, and in navigating the uncertainty of the pandemic. the presentation of the eib and participation in our panel from a range of international institutions is also extremely welcome, allowing us to gain insights into the irish economy and wider issues facing the business sector from those observing from a distance. i would of course much prefer to meet you all in person, but nonetheless i am looking forward to our ‘ virtual ’ discussions. small and medium enterprises ( smes ) in ireland while our event today will touch on issues relating both to smes and larger corporate businesses, i will focus my remarks on the sme sector. we are all aware of the enormous impact covid - 19 has had on our societies and our economies. smes have certainly not been spared, particularly with many businesses having to close their