Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The State owns AIB and the EBS and I asked the Tánaiste if the Government would intervene to have this rate increase reversed. The Keane report was published two years ago. However, nothing has happened during those two years in terms of the many sensible recommendations made in it. The mortgage interest subsidy was abolished. The bottom line is that families are facing an average increase of €800 per annum. I put it to the Tánaiste that this is unsustainable. I agree with the Central Bank that this will push many people on variable interest rate mortgages into arrears, thereby increasing the overall number in arrears.

It demands Government intervention. It will damage families and cripple the economy.

Everybody has talked about the domestic economy not getting off the floor during the past two years. Everybody accepts that the domestic economy needs some stimulus, some investment. If €800 is taken out of many families' annual household budget, there is not a chance that the domestic economy will go anywhere in the next 12 months. This is a wider issue. It is extraordinarily difficult for the families concerned but it has repercussions and implications for the broader domestic economy. Two years ago when the banks refused to pass on an ECB cut the Government made great play of hauling in the banks-----

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