Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to raise the issue of many home-owners who, in a sense, are trapped in the property they are in because they are in negative equity. They might have a tracker mortgage rate. Bank of Ireland introduced a product in April 2013 for people on tracker mortgages who wish to move so that if they qualify for a mortgage they can keep the tracker rate plus 1% for five years on that original portion of the mortgage and any additional mortgage is at the variable rate. The uptake seems to be quite poor. Bank of Ireland has approved about 400 cases and about one third have been drawn down. Would Bank of Ireland be willing to review that product to see if it could be made more attractive? Surely from the bank's point of view, if it is lending additional money to creditworthy customers that money will be at a variable rate, so it will be making a profit on that and clearly it would be transformative for many people in that situation. Could he comment on that and a related issue of people in negative equity who may be trapped in apartments with two or three children, a completely unsuitable environment for such families? What help is the bank giving to people in that situation to move if they can qualify for a mortgage?