A Fine Gael TD has defended the Department of Finance's Secretary General John Moran who has been criticised by the Labour Minister Joan Burton over comments he made about house repossessions. 

On Thursday, Mr Moran told the Public Accounts Committee that there is an "unnaturally low level of repossessions" of houses in Ireland adding that the repossession rate here was 0.25 per cent compared with 3 per cent in the UK.

The comments sparked a division within Government with the Social Protection Minister Joan Burton insisting a wave of repossessions "will not be allowed to happen", while Fine Gael's Junior Finance Minister Brian Hayes praised Mr Moran for "simply telling the truth."

Fine Gael backbench TD Paschal Donohue is also defending Mr Moran but is adamant that repossessions will only occur in cases where a genuine effort is not made by the homeowner to repay their mortgage: