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Waterford Mayor likens mortgage evictions crisis to exporting food during the famine

Waterford Mayor likens mortgage evictions crisis to exporting food during the famine

Figures from the Central Bank which were released last month, showed that the number of Irish people in mortgage arrears continued to decline.

However there are still over 70 thousand accounts in arrears across the country, with an average of 30 home repossession cases appeared before the Court in Waterford each week.

Mayor Sean Reinhardt told WLR News that the mortgage crisis could be rectified if there was change of policy nationally.

"Isn't it ridiculous that we have systems in place that make people homeless through the court, and then we have to house those people?" he said, "where is the logic in this? It's like exporting food during the famine."

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"I cannot believe that we haven't got a mechanism that can resolve the problem, with all the money that's thrown at a system that, in the end, is only going to line the pockets of a load of wealthy landlords."

Sean Reinhardt says that the price of land needs to be brought down, and said that development of housing co-ops would go a long way to helping to address the crisis.

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