Professor Philip Lane:

If one looks around the world, in many countries fixed rates are much more prevalent than they are here. Without particularly commenting on Bank of Ireland, in general it would be desirable if we could come up with a system which delivered reasonable long-term, fixed-rate mortgages. That would provide many benefits to consumers in terms of reliable interest payments. They would know for many years in advance the level of their interest payments. Variable-rate mortgages have been dominant in the Irish market for many years. If we came to a situation where a fraction of fixed-rate mortgages went up, it would be desirable if there were good, well-priced and long-term fixed-rate mortgages in terms of providing a good mortgage system for households.

The chief executive officer of Bank of Ireland explained to the committee its strategy in this regard. That is a clear commercial decision by the bank to pursue that strategy. If it were the only mortgage provider, that would be one matter. When there are alternative banks offering mortgages, however, and if individual banks want to pursue individual strategies, then that is part of the market dynamic.