Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Brown and his colleagues to the meeting. I wish to deal with the point made by Mr. Brown that the cost of providing mortgage finance in Ireland is substantially higher than in other jurisdictions in which Ulster Bank and RBS operate. It is my understanding that the lowest three-year rate for a borrower in the Republic is 3.65%. However, a person in the same loan-to-value can borrow at 1.49% fixed rate in Northern Ireland. Is that correct and can there be that level of a difference, which is more than 100%, going from 1.5% to 3.5%?