Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Just as IDA Ireland is knocking on the doors of multinationals abroad, the Department of Finance and agents working on the Minister's behalf should be knocking on the doors of banks abroad to determine whether they would be willing to enter the Irish mortgage market to provide badly needed competition.

We also need an active switcher market. AIB, which now has the lowest rates in the market, should be encouraged to make resources available to advertise that and actively encourage customers of other banks to switch their mortgage. That is the kind of dynamic we need in the market. It is only when consumers have the option of switching mortgage from one bank to another to avail of a better interest rate that some of the other banks that are charging higher rates might reduce theirs.

This issue will simply not go away. It is gaining momentum. The fact is that the rates in Ireland are way out of line with the average eurozone rate, as the Minister knows. He read into the record the average rate in Ireland of 4.2%. It is 2.09% in the eurozone area, which is exactly half the rate here. Can the Minister clarify when he plans to meet the Governor of the Central Bank? He indicated it would be this week. Is that still the plan? When does he plan to meet the six main lenders?

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