MORE than 70,000 mortgages in Ireland are now in arrears, latest figures reveal.

I was contacted recently by a reader who had a story which, I think, reflects the rotten state of the Irish personal banking sector. She has been with National Irish Bank for 20 years, has never had an unauthorised overdraft, defaulted on a loan, run up a massive credit card debt or behaved in any [...]

I was contacted a couple of hours ago by a SKY customer who wants to get rid of her eircom landline but is afraid that if she does she will lose her TV signal. I actually thought she might be right but Twitter tells me no. While you do need a phone line for Sky [...]

Several weeks ago Greyhound came uninvited into my life. The relationship, so far, has not been problem free.

First they sent me a calendar of collection dates which saw my bin day move from Wednesday to Tuesday. No problem there.
So like everyone in else in my neighbourhood, I dutifully put my bins out on [...]

HOMEOWNERS in negative equity have been given a lifeline after two banks were cleared to offer them new mortgages.

THE Government has promised to draw up a detailed plan for installing water meters in homes and creating a single water company by the end of April.

COUPLES in their thirties and forties are bearing the brunt of the downturn, new statistics reveal.

THE Central Bank is allowing new mortgage products where people will get to move house even though their existing property is worth less than they owe.

FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan last night ruled out extending the mortgage interest relief scheme to more of the “negative equity generation” due to the cost involved.

WITH Ireland’s economic- growth forecast axed in half and eurozone mayhem raging on, things are not exactly looking peachy for the jobs market.

Irish consumers who are strapped for cash might want to look behind sofas and rifle through the pockets of little-worn suits in search of some of the €361m worth of punts that were never exchanged for euro after the old currency ceased to be legal tender a decade ago.

Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the [...]

THE NUMBER of rental properties available on the market has fallen to the lowest level in three and a half years, according to new figures from Daft.ie.

THERE has been a sharp fall in the number of properties for rent, despite excessive building during the boom.

THERE has been a surge in the number of people saving in banks and credit unions.

THE insurance levy created to fund the collapse of Quinn Insurance could be imposed for longer than expected after estimates for the cost of paying the insurer’s debts rose by another €37m.

NCB Stockbrokers said the price of buying a home will fall by at least a fifth in the years ahead as Ireland recovers “from the largest credit and housing bubble in OECD history”.

THE Government is to change the law to regulate debt management companies.

FAMILIES will end up paying out an extra €600 a year for health insurance after the VHI announced another hike.

BANKS are making it harder for people to get mortgages because they believe house prices will keep falling and fear the economy will continue to slow down.

CASH buyers are snapping up bargain properties that would not have been affordable during the boom.

CONSUMERS started the year by being less gloomy about their finances.

THE cost of running a typical family car has passed the €100-a-week mark for the first time.

IT is a bloodbath out there. “SMEs are suffering, surviving day-to-day,” says Garrett McCarthy, an accountant with Hugh McCarthy & Associates.

THE National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) says house prices here have further to fall as disposable incomes also decline.

UP to 10,000 people may eventually benefit from new schemes that would see them giving up ownership of their homes but getting to stay in the house and renting it instead.

A FAMILY that was days away from being evicted is to become the first in the country to benefit from a new deal that will see them rent their home instead.

THOUSANDS of homeowners who can pay their mortgages but are overwhelmed by other debts may be able to get a deal to get some of what they owe wiped away.

HEALTH insurance price hikes are a big worry for Justin O’Gorman and his family.

Q: I see house prices are continuing to drop. We are considering buying a house. Can you tell me how possible is it to get a mortgage and what do you need to do to convince the lender?

IT is more than two years now since Joanne Connolly decided that she and her credit card should part company.

DSL broadband may still be the most popular type of broadband service in the country, but increasing numbers of people living in areas where non-DSL options are available are plumping for them, particularly cable.

Why on earth would you have a landline anymore?

LEADING lender Permanent TSB is to cut its mortgage rate for new buyers by almost 1pc, — the first time in almost four years that a bank has reduced its borrowing cost.

ONE-third of house buyers are now paying cash, an estate agency claimed yesterday.

CONSUMERS are turning their backs on the use of cash and cheques and increasingly making payments with plastic.

THE cost of renting a property is expected to fall dramatically after the Government cut the rent subsidy it pays to more than 96,000 low-income households.

THE Government has been accused of sucking money out of the pockets of families after its latest VAT hike forced petrol and diesel prices to record levels.