Mr. Padraic Kissane:

I would not think so because, with the level of deposits they hold, it would not make sense. Customers now see rates of 2.3% 2.4% or 3% for the next five years as very competitive but that is because they have come down from 4.5%. A person in Europe can get a 20-year fixed-rate for 2% and will have certainty for the full term of the loan. I do not know why such a product does not exist in this country. The term and rate are set and a person knows what he or she is paying. It would give certainty to the economy and to the planners in the Department of Finance etc. Moreover, in the case of any improvement in wages and situations, the economy will get better because the cost is known at the outset. In America they also have full-term, fixed-rate mortgages and I do not know why they are not here. The banks still make their money and set the margins but they want to eke as much out of it as possible.