Professor Patrick Honohan:

The first point to make here is that the Central Bank does not have the power to intervene in this regard. Second, I do not think it should. As an adviser to the Government and the committee, I would not recommend doing that. I have seen what happens in other countries when it is done. The temptation is there to say the banks are charging too much, but they always seem to be charging too much. Eventually, that type of process either is a joke and ineffective, as it had been here for many years, or it presses down so much that the banks end up shutting up shop and not doing any business. If the situation became egregious, one would have to do something. It is not egregious at this time.