Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that. Some of it will be helpful. One of the consequences of KBC and Ulster bank withdrawing from the market, which is obviously a terrible thing for consumers and for the footprint of banking in the State, is the reality that many of the loans involved will be transferred to Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB. Many of those are fixed-rate loans. When customers come off the fixed rate, Ulster Bank charges higher rates. There is a big difference at this point, for example, in an Ulster Bank loan that is transferring to Permanent TSB. Ulster Bank's fixed rate, at its lowest, is 2.2%. Permanent TSB's is 2.8%. What signal, if any, can Permanent TSB send to the customers involved? We expect the European Central Bank, ECB, to increase interest rates, possibly by 0.5%. Given the high rates Irish banks already charge, is there are view that they will absorb some of that ECB interest rate increase for these customers? In reality, Ulster Bank and KBC were offering the lowest fixed rates on the market.