Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Governor, Professor Honohan, today. I thank him for his response to the detailed information sought by the committee and his ongoing co-operation. I will begin with the issue of standard variable interest rates for mortgage holders, which the Governor dealt with in the early part of his opening statement. I get the impression from what the Governor said that he believes rates are high. However, the Central Bank is not willing to intervene in the sense since it does not want to be setting interest rates, which is understandable. The Governor said it would be counter-productive to exert administrative control. Does the Governor believe that the variable rates being charged by banks at the moment, which are in the region of 4.5% for new mortgages, are too high?