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

Reading between the lines, it sounds as if the Minister has made up his mind that the banks have gone far enough to satisfy him. I believe he is letting the banks off the hook, because they have not gone far enough. Yes, there have been improvements in the product offering, the fixed rates have come down and the managed variable rates are an innovation, but for many customers who are in negative equity or have very little equity and are really struggling there is little or no improvement. I have outlined all the variable rates still being charged by banks. Many of them are still up around the 4% to 4.5% rate and they are even higher in some cases. That is excessive when one considers the very low cost of funds that the banks are facing at present, the price that consumers must pay by entering into a fixed rate, the loss of flexibility they encounter when they do that and the fact that existing customers are being discriminated against. When the Minister says that if he is still here he will meet the banks again in the new year, it sounds as if the threat of the levy being increased or of legislation being introduced to give more powers to the Central Bank appears to be off the table. The Minister has been bought off too easily by the banks on this matter.

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