Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Since June, the ECB has increased its interest rates by 2.5%. The Governor of the Central Bank came before the Committee on Finance yesterday and made clear to me and others that he expects rates to increase by another 1% by March. The process will begin next week. That rate hike will immediately affect 300,000 people who are on tracker mortgages. It will mean having to pay thousands of euro more in interest this year.

It also affects more than 100,000 families who have had their mortgages sold to vulture funds. There was a commitment from the Government that they would not be any worse off but they are far worse off. Many of these individuals are already paying a 7% interest rate in the light of recent hikes. By March, they will be paying 8%. The Minister must understand the issue. We have seen the detail. For some of the affected families, it will mean an increase of €5,000 in interest payments compared with the amount they were paying in June last year. That will be a breaking point for those families. What can the Government do? Is it not now time for the Government to reintroduce tailored, targeted and time-bound mortgage interest relief to relieve some of the pressures on these families?

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