Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The big issue which has arisen during these proceedings is the fact that 60% of the sustainable solutions have involved legal letters. I am grateful that this matter has been clarified. The position in this regard is disappointing. We will look forward to our next meeting with the bank in order to discover whether it is changing. Many solutions have been offered but very few have actually been put in place. That certainly tallies with what I have heard during regular meetings with the people involved. There is much talk and many offers but not a great deal is happening.

The notion of debt for equity was first raised in this very room in 2009 by the then chief executive of the EBS, Mr. Fergus Murphy. Mr. Murphy submitted a paper to the then Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs which was compiling a report on the issue of mortgage arrears. Debt for equity was suggested as a possible solution at that point and probably before then. However, there was always the difficulty of getting it onto the banks' balance sheets. Has AIB done any work in trying to offer debt for equity as a proper sustainable solution? It would probably be a better solution than that which involves split mortgages. Mr. Murphy was very helpful to the then Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs in 2009 and I would certainly recommend him to AIB in the context of the knowledge he possesses of these issues.

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government stated earlier today that he had been unable to become involved in the issue relating to Priory Hall as a result of ongoing court proceedings. Did these proceedings have any bearing on AIB's decision to opt out? Was the bank wary of taking any positive action in the light of the ongoing court proceedings?

Could AIB offer a commitment not to repossess family homes? It was said that it is the bank's policy to keep people in their homes and that it wants to help people, but will the bank give a commitment that people will be kept in their family homes?

Interest rates are not the focus of the discussion today, but information on them was provided as part of the submission to the committee. Page 6 of the presentation to the committee concerns me greatly. It shows in graphic detail an uncompetitive market. What would one say to me if I were to send the document to the Competition Authority or the competition section of the European Commission? Does an issue arise in terms of competition law, given that market rates are coalescing? The market average, including AIB's rate, is 4.53%. As AIB has grown bigger and achieved a dominant position in the mortgage market of 46%, one could ask if it is using the dominant position in conjunction with another dominant entity of which we know to keep the interest rates at an unnatural high. The question is whether anti-competitive practices are going on in the banking market. The figures are very interesting. There is a common average and a commonality in increasing the standard variable rate while the European Central Bank rate goes down. There is a similar interest rate in the United Kingdom at central bank level, yet the standard variable rate averages out at 0.5% below Irish standard variable rates. My question is whether there is a competition issue and if I should send page 6 to the Competition Authority or the European Commission.

Two other issues arise. Has any progress been made on the Mercer report in terms of cutting costs in the bank? There are many people who are paying their mortgage but are struggling. They are in full compliance and do not appear on any lists of borrowers in trouble but many of them are deeply in trouble because they are putting off going to doctors and they are not putting food on the table. They might be in trouble with other loans but are paying their mortgage because they are proud of their home and they want to do that. They might be working. They might be in very good jobs with very high mortgages. What is on offer for those people who are not in arrears and who might not be likely to go into arrears soon but whose mortgage is a daily struggle? Will they be offered a split mortgage or a debt-for-equity arrangement to ease the burden on them and, ultimately, to prevent arrears?