Ms Isolde Goggin:

I would say that if the German banks can do that, then I wish they would, because it is one thing to say it and another thing to do it. If they would actually come in and do that, it would shake up the market totally and would offer much better value because we would see all the other banks reacting. The point is they have not done it. That is why we made recommendations in our mortgages options paper as to how the Central Bank and the Department of Finance could make it easier for institutions to enter and could look at the red tape that may be hindering them from doing it. Nonetheless, it is the case that there is better competition in the standard variable rate mortgage market than there was a couple of years back, and customers can make savings if they switch. Again, I accept switching is an unduly difficult and protracted process.