Mr. David Hall:

The Central Bank has a dual role of regulating funds and banks. It also has a statutory function to protect consumers. This is all housed in the one building. As we mentioned previously, hundreds of different charities deal with cancer and deal with housing. There is then ourselves and MABS dealing with debt, given the amount of debt that is involved.

We need the Central Bank to step up and to be central in all of this and to give reassurance to the Oireachtas and to mortgage holders that they are indeed protected. I would love the Central Bank to give me assurance that Pepper does need to charge 7.25%. I am not happy that this is the case but I am not even confident that it has to. Fundamentally, I do not understand why that has not been established very quickly. I would love to see and I am very confident that many lending institutions in this State will make bumper profits this year on the back of these interest rates. It is incumbent on everybody to intervene now and not to wait until next year’s annual report comes out to say that these institutions made massive profits. Why are banks and vulture funds making additional profits on interest rates they allegedly have to put up? I have above average intelligence and I cannot figure that one out. That needs to be looked at.

The Central Bank must wake up and invoke its powers. The bank is the wrong place to have consumer protection when it comes to mortgage holders and customers. It must be an independent entity with the appropriate powers to do that. Unfortunately, at the moment that is falling upon advocates such as committee members and individual financial journalists to put the pressure on. Even at that, it is a painstaking process.