Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Deputy Finian McGrath.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate, which once again highlights how the Government defers to the banks continuously. One of the hallmarks of this Government in its lifetime has been how it has kowtowed to the banks and let them call the shots in regard to economic and banking policy and what the banks are doing to our society. The one thing that should be clear to everybody in this society at this stage is that the banks do not work for the people.

The banks do not work for the good of their customers or citizens, rather they work to look after the banks and that is their only reason for being. We saw all through the build-up to the financial crash and the introduction of the bailout in 2010 that the banks continued to fuel the market and bubble, keep them going and drive them ever faster by pumping money into the system, thereby fuelling the increase in house prices and the debt burden on everyone across society.

Since the crash we have seen that the Government plays to the banks' tune. It is very wary of calling in the banks. I remember the Government had to be cajoled and pushed into meeting the banks to discuss issues around the increases in interest rates the banks had been forcing on customers throughout the country. This has led to a situation, as pointed out in the motion, where more than 300,000 families are on variable rate mortgages with interest rates of up to 4.5% while the banks are borrowing money at between 1.1% and 1.5%. Significant profiteering is taking place on the backs of very vulnerable people who are struggling to meet their mortgage payments and struggling through the recession. They are fuelling the recovery the banks are enjoying.

Much has been made over recent months of the banks returning to profitability, but the debate has exposed how that has happened, namely, by screwing people on variable rate mortgages. If all the 300,000 involved were paying up to €6,000 extra compared with what they would be paying if they had reasonable rates on their mortgages, it would contribute more than €1.8 billion in profits to the banks. We see the facade that is the banks having returned to profitability, which has happened on the backs of very vulnerable people who are struggling to keep roofs over their heads. This Government, to its eternal shame, has allowed that to happen and has lain down before the banks at every opportunity to allow them to continue to ride roughshod over the citizens of this society. It needs to act.

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