Dr. Cormac Keating:

We made a submission on the Bill, and as Ms Goggin has said, we believe that if the Bill were enacted, it would limit competition for mortgage loans and it would be to the detriment of consumers.

What happens frequently in markets where price caps are placed is that the caps become a target. We think that is what would happen in this case, namely, that the cap would become a target. When speaking to international lenders - the people who provide the money to the retail lenders - about how they feel a legislative proposal like this would affect their decision to provide funding into the Irish market, they were all of the opinion that this would increase the level of risk for them. If some piece of legislation like that is introduced at this moment in time, then the question arises as to what is likely to be introduced at another moment in time and that creates a risk for them and they price the capital higher.