Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is what I was trying to get at because it is a completely different message that is being sent in all of that. If Dr. Ugur does not have the data for outstanding mortgages, that is fine. We can revisit that.

There is one other issue, which relates to the profitability of the banks. Mr. Hayes mentioned the importance of profitability in the banks and increasing the capital. We all recognise that. The profit has been quite substantial but it is not because of innovation. One of the witnesses mentioned that earlier. It is the high interest rate environment that is really driving this increase in profit where we see profits at AIB going from €1.1 billion to €2.5 billion, at Bank of Ireland from €1.5 billion to €2.4 billion and Permanent TSB from €114 million to €203 million. We have done the calculations. If the ECB had not increased rates as it has, the profitability of the banks would have been down by approximately €3 billion, if they were still on the old rates of -0.5%. In light of the profitability the banks now have, the fact is that their net interest margin is far above that of their European competitors. This is what feeds into the sense that customers are getting a raw deal. AIB’s net interest margin has gone from 1.75% to 2.87%. The average in Europe is 1.48%, which is lower than where AIB stood throughout all of last year. Bank of Ireland’s is going go up to 2.94%. Permanent TSB’s is going to go up to 2.3%. We want to find out why there are bumper profits. It is because the net interest margin is increasing. That is a factor of the fact that customers are not getting a fair deal, compared with those who bank with European competitors. On the issue of fairness and the availability now given the banks’ profitability, will that be addressed?