Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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When I look at the figures, I see that the only other eurozone countries that have rates above 3% are Malta, Estonia, Latvia and Greece. To the best of my knowledge, the non-performing loan rates in Greece are not exactly healthy. There is no question but that we need to bring down our level of non-performing loan exposure as a country; it is a question of how to do so, which is another debate. Is the Minister saying to me and to Irish consumers that this is the main reason the rates here are so out of line and that Ireland is the most expensive of 19 states in the eurozone? The Central Bank of Ireland seems to be doing nothing about this. I am asking the Minister, as head of the Department of Finance in the Government, what he is doing to bring down interest rates for consumers.