Mr. Brendan Burgess:

My argument is that somebody has to do it. The Central Bank does not have clean hands in this area. I would prefer if we had a properly functioning Central Bank that was interested in protecting the consumer or balancing the interests of consumers and banks. I do not want to see bad banks because we want low rates just for mortgages. You cannot hand control of mortgage rates over to the Department of Finance so the only institution that could do it is the Central Bank. I agree there may be stage two in respect of this matter. If the Central Bank ignores the wishes of the Oireachtas and does not do what it is supposed to do and make sure fair mortgage interest rates are charged, it may be necessary to revisit the legislation and put in place some form of hard cap. As I said, I would prefer if this legislation was not necessary and I certainly would not like to see a hard rate like the ECB or cost of funds plus 3% in the legislation but if it is required, it must be done.