Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Variable mortgage interest rates in the State are 2% above the European average. In other words, there are states in Europe in which variable mortgage interest rates are more than 2% below the rates charged here. This equates to an extra €167 per month for a household per €100,000 owed on a mortgage. For someone with a €200,000 mortgage, we are talking about a difference of €330 per month. This means real hardship for working-class and middle-class people and a serious deflation of the economy. The Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit will broadly support the Bill. We will be offering our support for it on the grounds that it will put a certain amount of pressure on the banks to lower their rates. It will give certain increased powers to intervene against some of the actions of the banks. However, in reality, our support for it will be very critical as we believe it falls far short of the measures that need to be taken.

AIB is nearly 100% in State ownership. The stake of the State in permanent tsb amounts to a clear majority. These banks, as well as others, should be run on the basis of a public service to meet the needs of the people rather than on a for-profit basis.

There is a privatisation agenda, driven by the Government, at work in regard to the banks. The banks are being fattened for the private operators to gain majority control and that is the root cause of a lot of the problems we have. The profit motive in banking is the root cause of many of the problems that are faced here but the Bill refuses to recognise that. Indeed it makes major concessions to that approach by conceding at its heart the idea that a reasonable profit for lenders should be part of the guidelines the Central Bank operates under. It refuses to recognise that the needs of ordinary people are in conflict with the profit motive behind the banks. That is the key weakness of the legislation.

While we will support the Bill, it will be a very critical support. What is needed now are interest rates that can be payable by ordinary people. What is needed are mortgages which are written down where debt is unpayable. What is not needed are court proceedings against huge numbers of mortgage holders. What is absolutely not needed are the repossessions and evictions we have seen across the State in recent times. In order to do that, there must be no privatisation of the banks and a rejection of the profit motive in the running of the banks, which should constitute a public service for the needs of people. That means the banks must be maintained in public ownership and if they are not in public ownership they should be taken back into it.

The boards of the banks must adopt a totally different agenda than the one at play. They must be democratically controlled. They must have democratic public ownership with an agenda of attempting to meet the needs of the people rather than to make the banks ever more profitable. That is what is needed. While we will vote in support of the Bill, it is a critical support and we reserve the right to put down amendments.

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