Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Finance and the Minister of State to their first oral questions and wish them good luck in their new roles.

This question is about the reaction required to the European Central Bank, ECB's interest rate hikes. Interest rates have increased by 2.5%, with a further increase of approximately 1% unfortunately expected by the end of the year. These increases are taking time to work through the Irish system, but it is widely expected that they will do so in the coming months. Cohorts of borrowers have already been impacted by them and, therefore, I am asking the Minister to consider options for introducing a timely, targeted and temporary mortgage relief to support hard-pressed borrowers.

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