Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was just waiting for the Minister to finish, a Cheann Comhairle.

The Minister needs to acknowledge something about that last point. People on tracker mortgages were on a low rate for quite a sustained period, but they are now seeing their interest repayments increasing by thousands of euro. In some cases, they are increasing by €3,000 per annum. It is a significant increase. It would not matter if it were an electricity, gas or food bill; it is a bill that many families cannot meet. Approximately 100,000 who have had their mortgages sold on to vulture funds despite the Government's commitment that nothing would change are now paying interest rates of 7%.

What I was trying to say earlier was that we would like to submit a proposal on a tailored and time-based mortgage interest relief. It could use a reference rate of last June and a portion of the increase would be absorbed by the State. Mortgage interest hikes are a cost-of-living expense on individuals and, therefore, I encourage the Minister to consider our proposal.

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