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

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am aware of a number of people whose mortgages are with non-bank lenders who are facing very high interest rates in some cases. It is 8% or 9% in some cases. I understand that it is relatively easy to switch if a person has equity in the property and a good payment record. They can switch back or switch to another bank where they might get a lower rate but that will not be the case in all cases, particularly where people may have had a period where they were not paying their mortgage, often through no fault of their own, having lost their jobs. The Minister for Finance is very seized of this and is very sympathetic. He is working out if there are targeted solutions that might help in those cases.

See this speech in context