Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Táim buíoch as an cheist thábhachtach faoi mhorgáistí. I assure the Deputy that no one has their head in the sand. No one will be left alone, as the Government has proved during the cost-of-living crisis with the additional measures we have brought forward for families and individuals across the country. The average interest rate on new mortgages in April, prior to today's expected increase in ECB rates, was 3.6%. Mortgage rates in Ireland are the fifth lowest among the 20 countries that use the euro. Roughly 90% of new mortgages over the past year or so, as the Deputy should know, have been fixed-rate mortgages. These products will, thankfully, protect borrowers in the event of further interest rate rises in the market.

The last time there was mortgage interest relief was in 2008. The full-year cost at that time was €700 million. It would be a significant intervention and it is not one that anyone should take lightly or bring forward on an ad hocbasis. The pre-budget submission that Sinn Féin published before the budget last September made no reference whatsoever to mortgage interest relief. The reintroduction of a tax relief on mortgages does need to be considered. There is no question but that families and individuals are suffering because of the mortgage rate increases. However, such a relief cannot be done on an ad hocbasis. That is what the Deputy has suggested to deal with nearly every problem. He changes from one week to the next. That is not the way to manage an economy or the country. The budgetary process is the most appropriate way to consider further action in respect of the cost-of-living challenge and the introduction of mortgage interest relief, should it be decided that ought to be done.

Sinn Féin's proposals, brought forward by the Deputy, do not help people on fixed interest mortgages. There are questions about fairness in respect of who gets relief and who does not, and at what levels they get that relief. While tracker mortgage holders and some people on variable rates have unquestionably been affected by higher payments, recent Central Bank research shows that having benefited from lower repayments over the years, the increases they now face will move their repayments roughly to the level of other borrowers. Fairness and equity are important in any measures we would take.

In respect of non-bank lenders, the Minister for Finance and senior officials recently met with providers in the non-bank sector. The Minister raised concerns about the impact of recent mortgage interest rate rises on borrowers and the potential this may have to increase mortgage arrears. That is a real situation with which the Minister has been dealing. He has emphasised it is a Government priority to reduce mortgage arrears and noted that the higher rates being charged by non-bank lenders act against achieving this objective. The Minister also recently wrote to the Central Bank in the context of the review of the consumer protection code to highlight the issue and to underline the importance of customers with performing mortgages being supported and facilitated to switch to avail of the lower interest rates that are available in the market outside the non-bank lenders. Many borrowers within the non-bank sector who are fully repaying their mortgages should be in a position to switch their loans back to the banks if they wish to do so. There are approximately 72,000 borrowers with tracker or fixed-rate mortgages with non-banks so it is a significant sector. On that point, I agree with the Deputy. Any measures the Government decides to implemented will come, in the round, by way of a budgetary response, as we did in the last budget to bring forward additional measures on the cost of living. The Deputy will recall that every week last year, members of Sinn Féin were jumping up and down and looking for emergency budgets. What type of security or certainty would that have provided? This Government was able to bring forward a budget last year to help people. I assure the House we will do the same this year.

See this speech in context