Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

Ultimately, my view is the best way we have of making progress on that is through competition within the sector. It is why the decision in relation to the future of PTSB is so important. It is why we are trying to encourage and support more competition in the mortgage sector. That is the way we will do it. Neither the Central Bank nor the Government has the ability to intervene in the pricing decisions that banks make regarding the availability of mortgage products. We need more competition. We have two large banks and a smaller one, and we need more competition in the mortgage market in the long term to make a difference on that issue.