Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chairman and the witnesses for their presentations.

I refer again to the housing issue. There has been much talk about it this morning, but this issue has not been resolved. It is now causing cash flow problems because mortgages cannot be drawn down.

I have a number of examples of applications where one party is being fully paid. Neither the employer or employee is in receipt of a Covid-19 payment, but one of the parties to the borrowing is employed by a company in receipt of Covid-19 support through the Government scheme. Banks are refusing to allow a drawdown to occur even where, in all the cases I have, people are receiving their full salary in the same way they were prior to the introduction of the Covid-19 scheme. I am not satisfied that the banks are behaving properly, and this has caused problems for both builders and builders' suppliers. This is then causing further problems down the line.

What can the Central Bank do on this issue? There is clear evidence in all the cases I have that there has been no reduction in pay to the borrowers yet the banks are refusing to allow a drawdown. In one case, for instance, the mortgage repayment was to be €690 per month and the current rent the applicants are paying is €900 per month. That sale collapsed. The bank would not allow a drawdown because one of the parties borrowing was employed by a company in receipt of Covid-19 support. Can we have clarification on that situation where there is no reduction in the income of the borrowers?