Laois County Council has repossessed 43 houses as a result of mortgage arrears between 2010 and September 2017.
16 of these repossessions were forced on foot of a Court order and the other 27 repossessions were by voluntarily surrender or abandonment.
Repossession on foot of a Court order by Laois County Council is the second highest of all counties in the country (excluding Cork, Dublin and Galway). The figures in Kildare are higher.
When it comes to repossessions which are achieved on a voluntarily-surrender basis Laois is again near top of the list in the country.
Overall, outside of the main cities, Laois County Council ranks 4th highest for Local Authority repossessions.
Fianna Fail TD Sean Fleming said: “Per capita, the repossessions in Laois by the Local Authority is at least 3 times the national average. This needs to be explained.
“Everybody accepts that mortgages have to be sustainable and the Council as a mortgage provider/lender must take action when mortgages are not being repaid.
“Over the years people in Laois have been in contact with me about legal proceedings by financial institutions against them in respect of their mortgage arrears.
“When investigating these matters it became clear to me that Laois County Council was also very active in seeking repossessions.
“I asked the Department and Laois County Council in the past why the Laois figures are so high.
“There should be a consistent approach across all Local Authorities.
“There has been no clear answer as to why the repossessions are so high in Laois relative to other counties.
“The public needs to know is there a different approach being taken by Laois County Council compared with other Local Authorities.
“I raised the issue of Local Authority Mortgage Arrears at the Public Accounts Committee in April and received the attach document from the Department in recent days.
“Page 9 gives the National figures for Local Authority Mortgage Arrears Repossessions 2010 to Q3 2017.”
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