Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to let it go for a few months and see if the new competitive situation will operate to the benefit of customers. We have made significant progress. The Deputy's Private Members' Bill, which I complimented as a good initiative, sought to provide that the Central Bank should intervene to fix interest rates if they went above 3%. We have the two biggest mortgage providers down to 3.65% now, so we are coming close to the position the Deputy outlined.

I am not sure what will happen with interest rates internationally but there are very strong indications that the cycle of rising interest rates could commence this autumn when the US authorities increase interest rates. People should look seriously at fixing now because we might be at the bottom of the cycle. If one fixes, one does not fix irretrievably. One can always revert to a variable rate subsequently.

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