There’s been a further increase in mortgage holders going into arrears.

The Central Bank said there was a total of 99,189 mortgages more than 90 days in arrears. That’s an increase of just over 1,300.

However, the Central Bank said there was a 6 percent drop in the number of early stage arrears.

It also said that by the end of September there was a slight increase in customers being offered long-term mortgage restructuring agreements.

Newstalk's Business Editor Ian Guider explains: 

He says the new rules on personal insolvency will help those in difficulty: 

The Central Bank says the number of mortgages in arrears actually fell from 142,892 (18.5% of the total stock) to 141,520 (18.4%) during the quarter to end-September 2013. That means the outstanding balance on mortgages in arrears fell by 0.5% during Q3, the first decrease since the series began in September 2009. However, this decrease masks divergent trends between short-term and longer-term arrears.

The increase in homeowners with mortgages in longer-term arrears was driven by accounts that are late by over 720 days - all other categories declined.