Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have two questions for each agency and will start with the NTMA. I will set out my questions at the beginning and I hope both delegations will reply.

My initial questions are for Mr. O'Connor. There is a growing and strong school of thought that believes Ireland should engage in sustained deficit spending. The circumstances are very favourable to that kind of approach at the moment given the underlying strength of the economy, the availability of cheap long-term money, the trend towards deflation and the obvious need for a significant stimulus package for the economy. Does he subscribe to that school of thought? What does he believe to be a sustainable level of borrowing over the next three years? What does he regard to be an ambitious yet prudent target timeframe to meet the objective of balancing the budget?

My next questions are for Governor Makhlouf. We have been conscious for some time of high residential mortgage interest rates and their negative impact on households and the economy. In the present circumstances, does he intend to take action or does he believe it would be advisable to take action to ease the financial burden by reducing residential mortgage interest rates, which are very much out of line with the overall low interest rates that are currently available? Does he intend to take action to reduce the mortgage interest rates as a means of stimulus, not only to ease the burden on mortgagees but to free up money for spending in the economy, which is badly needed at the moment, and to stimulate demand for housing?

My next question is on bank closures. A significant number of bank closures took place March, all of which were in breach of the consumer protection code. Bank of Ireland was clearly the worst offender, as it closed 101 branches without giving the required notice under the code and, in fact, on the basis of a 24-hour notice to the Central Bank. What action has the Central Bank taken in response to the breach of the code engaged in by the banks? What action has he taken or does he intend to take to minimise the risk of further breaches of that code?