Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The Tánaiste mentioned many things I would like to debate with him in detail but I will focus on the proposition that the Government, which is 99% owner of Permanent TSB, ensures its interest rates are no longer sub-prime or usury rates and that they are reduced to the level of the other banks, which is 3% to 3.5%. That would be a huge saving for people. If the Government did that, it might be the resolution to its customers problem and it might not need all of these other rather complicated solutions proposed.

If the Government wants to keep people in their homes, the first thing to do is to ensure the market reacts to what the ECB does. The reason the ECB brought down the interest rate was to make it cheaper to borrow money. What has happened here is that one major lender in the mortgage market has refused to reduce its rate even though it is owned by the Government.

Will the Minister for Finance ensure that Permanent TSB reduces its interest rate from the punitive 5.19% to, for example, the AIB rate of 3%? If he did that, he would ensure huge relief for very many people who find it impossible to pay the €200 per week on €200,000 but who could pay €116 per week. That would resolve their problems. The irony of this is that if the Minister did that, the Government would save money because the interest relief being given is proportionate to the interest being paid. The Government would make a saving by forcing Permanent TSB to reduce the rate.

There are many things I would like to discuss today and the Tánaiste made many interesting debating points but will the Government ensure Permanent TSB brings down the rate as it did with AIB? I compliment the Government on what it did with AIB. It is a job half done but it should finish the job.

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