Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear the Deputy and I am sympathetic with what he has to say. As I said earlier, many people are paying €1,800 or €2,000 in rent per month. They could afford a mortgage of €1,500 and would be better off if they could get that mortgage but they cannot do so. I hear what the Deputy is saying and I hear that from people all of the time but I am not passing the buck in saying that the Central Bank is independent. It is independent and for good reasons. It sets interest rates independently of the political process and it puts macroprudential rules in place to avoid a repeat of the mistakes of the past, including the creation of a housing bubble, which all of us in this House want to avoid.

The Central Bank has regular engagement with the Minister for Finance and the Government. I met the Governor of the Central Bank about this matter some years ago in my previous role as Taoiseach. It is now carrying out a review of the mortgage rules. I am asking it to do that expeditiously, properly and well, but also to do so as quickly as possible. It is welcome that the Central Bank is having a public consultation. I hope that people who are trapped in this situation will take part in the public consultation and that the Central Bank will hear the voice of people in that regard. It has a major role to play in ensuring financial stability and in making sure we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. However, it cannot be blind either to the unintended consequences, which may be rents going as high they have gone and people feeling that they will never be able to buy a home of their own.

See this speech in context