Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Michael McGrath for raising an issue that is important to mortgage holders and the banking system. If the Minister, Deputy Noonan, who has joined us, told 300,000 people that he would give them back between €992 and €4,000, the benches would be full of cheering backbenchers rushing to the radio talking about the great Government. Yet the benches are empty. Those on the Government side who have spoken are confused as to the policy because there is a reluctance to act on this issue.

Competition keeps coming back as one of the reasons variable rate mortgage holders are paying such rates. The Minister of State, Deputy Harris, referred to the lack of competition, as has the Central Bank. Deputies Barry and McNamara spoke about the potential options open to the Government to address issues regarding competition for variable rate mortgage holders, SMEs or bank customers generally. All of the options and the ability to do something about this issue, which is costing families thousands of euro, have been ignored.

The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland is in existence. Any new money being invested in the economy is good, but we reward the existing pillar banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, which are the criminals that have been found guilty of the offence we are discussing, for their guilt. We reward them for abandoning variable rate mortgage holders and SMEs. Deputy McNamara referred to facilities being changed and extra costs and interest being charged. That is happening wholesale, but we reward the banks and give them more money from the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland and move away from the chance to introduce an extra element of competition.

For years, credit unions have said they want to enter the mortgage market. They are local institutions and community banking at its very best. It is the opposite of what we are rewarding, yet we will not allow competition into the mortgage market. It is no wonder our variable rate mortgages are as they are when there is a lack of competition. To proffer it as an excuse is one thing, but to ignore the chance of doing anything about it shows an ignorance of the issue.

The Government is pressing the banks to do something, as it stated in its amendment, and is the majority shareholder in AIB and a significant shareholder in Bank of Ireland, but there is a fundamental clash between that and driving that shareholding and profitability of the banks to try to sell them off at some stage. We want to increase profits, and to do that we need more bank income and the share price needs to be higher.

At the same time, the Government has an interest and responsibility to mortgage holders who are being fleeced by these same banks. Somebody must act as the independent mediator and stand up for the interests of the people, as opposed to the interests of the Government's bank balance. Somebody must argue that there is potential to introduce competition to the market through the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, credit unions or any other number of methods.

We are not arguing that we should revert to something like the communist days in Russia, when the Minister responsible for finance dictated how the banks operated. We are asking why the Government has consistently over its term in office laid down in front of the banks. The Taoiseach today stated that he did not fix the banks for the bankers but we can look at the record. We changed the law to facilitate repossession of principal private residences. We facilitated and established an insolvency regime to give people a second chance that has, at its heart, a control mechanism by the main creditor, which equates to the banks. Bank representatives have not met the Economic Management Council to discuss this variable rate issue since 2012, and the credit guarantee scheme, which was introduced to assist small businesses in getting lending facilities, and which was flawed since its launch, has not been reformed despite promises from the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, going back 15 months. We are coming to the end of another Dáil session where the credit guarantee (amendment) Bill has not come before it for discussion.

Where there is an awareness of the problem at a Government level, in fairness to the Minister for Finance and the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Nash, there is no urgency in doing something about it. On many occasions we have seen reforms put in place that have fixed the banks for the bankers, and people who are using the banks' facilities and products are being left behind to wait without money that should be in their pockets going into those pockets. Nevertheless, backbenchers are standing up to wring their hands in pain and exasperation, as was the case when Deputy Michael McGrath put forward a motion on giving protection to the principal primary residence in an insolvency regime. At 9 p.m., those backbenchers will come here to vote for the Government's amendment to the motion, which amounts to a pat on the back. They will argue that they are worried about the issue but they will want to get out of here for Easter.

I bet the Government will tackle this issue, along with the issue of protecting the principal private residence, as part of its election campaign. That is why there is such distrust and frustration about politics, as when somebody formulates a good idea, as Deputy McNamara stated, the Government will indicate that it will close down any of those efforts. When options are presented to the Government, as they have been by Deputy Michael McGrath on so many occasions, the Government will refuse to listen as it wants to act at its own time of choosing and take credit for that. The people overpaying for their mortgage do not have that luxury and cannot afford to keep paying rates way above what they would get if they were to buy the house as a new customer. The irony is if these people are forced to give up or sell their houses because they cannot afford to pay the mortgage, the people buying the house would have access to the lower variable mortgage rates now on offer. The person buying the house would have stamp duty paid by some of these pillar banks in which we are placing our trust and in which the Minister puts his constant support and empowerment. They are funding people who are buying houses from others by way of paying legal charges but meanwhile those who are paying excessive interest rates are left to whistle and suffer for the want of somebody standing up and providing a way out of this.

People have put up with much and the majority of those who pay their mortgage do so with much sufferance and sacrifice. They are absolutely put to their collar in doing it. They can see advertisements from the two pillar banks in particular about being open for business and lending; the slogan is "we are backing brave". These banks are offering to pay stamp duty for people who can buy a house. This suggests we are at the beginning of a circle all over again, and that is not somewhere we want to go. I know the Minister does not want to go there and surely there is something to be said for the Central Bank acting now on promotional offers which have people being pushed and pulled in the housing market. Bank money is our money and it is paid by variable rate mortgage holders, and it is paying for the promotions like the payment of stamp duty. That must come to a stop, as we are going down a road again which we do not want to follow.

I have lost count of the number of occasions that Deputy Michael McGrath has brought motions to this House in the past four years, starting with his first piece of business, which dealt with family home protection. As we come to the end of this Dáil, we are again highlighting issues that are relevant to the Government party Members. With those who spoke this evening, there was an absence of the usual backbencher scripts that were about having a go for the sake of it; there is a realisation among Government party Members that there is a problem. They will all do as the Government asks and support this very watery amendment to the motion. We need action and if people are to regain faith and confidence in this House, as well as in those of us serving in this House, we will need action on these kinds of issues. We need people to see that Dáil Éireann recognises their trouble and the ultimate and inherent unfairness in a position where I or anybody doing his or her best in paying a mortgage would pay more than somebody who is now in a position to buy because of lower interest rates. People who have made sacrifices to pay for those lower interest rates now have to stand back while somebody else gets the benefit in accessing those lower rates. They can also use the benefit of those sacrifices to pay for stamp duty.

Dáil Éireann needs to stand up and prove the Taoiseach right for a change when he said that we did not fix the banks for the sake of bankers. The record of this Government suggests significantly otherwise.

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