Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Three hundred thousand households on variable mortgage rates are paying two percentage points more than the average eurozone borrower. The Taoiseach has moaned and groaned about that, but he has done nothing about it.

Last month, Sinn Féin brought forward the Central Bank (Mortgage Interest Rates) Bill 2015, which would have given the Central Bank the power to cap mortgage interest rates from banks that had been bailed out by public money. The Taoiseach's Government voted down that Bill. The Taoiseach has done something about it. He has favoured the banks again against the interests of those struggling householders and he has disguised this compliance with his usual bluster and raiméis.

Last week, the Taoiseach said that 300,000 households paying variable mortgage rates above the rates at which the banks are borrowing is not a morally justifiable position. That was before the draft European Commission report acknowledged that interest rates here are high while at the same time recommending a hands-on approach to the banks. Therein lies the reason for the Taoiseach's refusal to act on this morally unjustifiable position. He always does what the elite tell him to do. Will he stand up for the rights of Irish citizens? No. Will he stand up against the big boys in Brussels? No. I have a wee test for the Taoiseach. He should cut out the bluster, the convoluted, boring narrative, and the excuses, and reject the morally unjustifiable recommendations of the Commission. He should give the Central Bank the power to cap mortgage rates in banks that have been bailed out with public moneys, and he should stand up for Irish mortgage holders.

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