Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It shows how out of touch the Government has become. There was little or no mention of how it would specifically tackle the plight of householders with variable mortgage interest rates other than by meeting the banks. The 300,000 families paying these penal variable rates pay on average 2% more than other EU customers, or €6,000 per annum. Over the lifetime of a mortgage, that is almost enough to pay for a house.

When we raised this matter in Private Members' time a month ago, the Government expressed concern and stated that it would speak with the banks. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, met the Governor of the Central Bank and expressed his concern. Last Tuesday, he stated that he would meet the banks' CEOs to express his concern. However, the horse has already bolted. At yesterday's Oireachtas finance committee meeting, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank confirmed that there would be no rate cut, as their variable rates were not overpriced as far as they were concerned.

Does the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources agree with the CEOs that their variable mortgage rates are not overpriced? Does he believe it acceptable that the banks are refusing to reduce their rates? Now that Plan A - expressing concern - has failed, has the Government a Plan B? Fianna Fáil will not let this matter go. We will pursue it until we force the Government to act. The majority of the 300,000 families involved are paying penal rates to banks that are fully owned by the Irish taxpayer and controlled by the Government. Other than expressing concern, is it going to do anything substantial to solve this problem?

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