Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last month I stood here during Private Members' Business urging the Minister for Finance to meet with and put real pressure on the banks. I said, "I would urge you to make it clear to them that as the banks stabilise and get lower interests rates from Europe, they must pass this on to the financially strapped mortgage holders across the country."

Dún Laoghaire has some of the highest house prices in the country, and by inference some of the highest mortgages. Most people who purchased a property after the Celtic tiger years are on a standard variable rate mortgage. Several helpless constituents have come to me in mortgage arrears. They are hard-working families who pay their property tax, universal social charge and water charges. It is one of the most compliant counties in the country. I am pleased to acknowledge that the Minister listened and has met with the six main mortgage banks in an effort to help homeowners in Dun Laoghaire and the rest of the country. I only hope that the banks will actually sit up, listen and do something about it.

Only last week I received an e-mail from John in Blackrock, and his thoughts say exactly what I think. I will read it in full:

There is a fear that a derisory offer of 0.50% to 0.75% will be offered by the banks and that the Government will accept this small, token reduction. It has been reported in the media that the Government is looking for at least a 0.75% cut in the standard variable rate, but I believe more should be demanded in order to undo the strangle hold the banks interest rates have had on mortgage holders over the past 7 years. This reduction should have been demanded years ago, which would have saved people thousands in increased interest payments. It is grossly unfair on the 300,000 or so standard variable rate mortgage holders who are paying through the nose to supplement the Tracker rates being paid by others. We have already, as taxpayers, paid more than enough to bail out the banks and enough is now enough. Currently the ECB interest rate is 0.05%. While the Irish banks' interest rates are the highest in Europe at an average of 4.2%. This is almost twice as high as the European average. Is this equitable? Is this fair? In an economy that is now slowly recovering some of its confidence, which has been hindered rather than helped by high interest rates of the banks, this is an important opportunity to release some cash flow back into the economy. Every euro paid in to a bank is a euro less spent in the economy. Thankfully, the banks have faced increasing political pressure in recent months to reduce their rates but I believe more should be done. A levy on the banks is not the answer either as we mortgage holders will not see any benefit in our pockets. While the recently announced cut of up to 0.38% by AIB on standard variable rate mortgages is welcome, the bank is still charging up to 1.5% more than it is charging in Northern Ireland. This is simply unethical and unacceptable.

It is unethical and unacceptable and I urge the Minister to ensure the hard-pressed homeowners of Dun Laoghaire are given some reprieve on their rates. I welcome the pressure the Minister is putting on the banks and I urge the banks to propose fair and viable options to reduce monthly mortgage payments in the coming weeks.

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