Around 1 in 5 residential mortgages in Ireland is currently in a delinquent state.

According to the Central Bank, up to half of mortgage holders are in negative equity.

This makes the mortgage arrears crisis one of the most profound across the OECD.

In a new paper on the issue the Bank says may of the borrowers in a distressed state are actually in employment. Although many are on temporary contracts and some have experienced a significant drop in income.

The bank says the in order to tackle the mortgage arrears crisis overall job security and and labour market conditions must be tackled.