Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

They are obviously in a good place. Banks, including PTSB, were trying to get people off tracker mortgages, legitimately and illegitimately for a long time. I do not want to go back into that. If all those people come off tracker mortgages now and get a four-, five- or seven-year fixed rate, they are going to have to pay more money. Their mortgages are going to cost them more, immediately, because they are suddenly on a fixed rate. However, the longer they remain on the tracker mortgage, the less attractive fixed rate they are going to get if they decide to come off the tracker and take a fixed rate. When is the optimal time for those people to come off a tracker mortgage and get a fixed rate? It is not a commercial secret to say that most bankers anticipate interest rates rising in the medium to long term. That obviously includes tracker rates. When is the optimal time to come off a tracker and move to a five-, ten- or 20-year fixed rate?