Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, in total we have more than 110,000 principal dwelling home mortgages that are in the non-bank sector, and the agreement on the eligibility criteria for switching is a significant step forward. It is the first time we have such agreement in place and we have the agreement of all of the different lenders that they will operate and support those mortgage switching and eligibility criteria. That is important.

I have been engaged with the Central Bank on the question of how many customers it believes will be able to switch under the initial eligibility criteria. I know the Central Bank wrote to the Deputy directly on that question as well and confirmed that in its view, at this point in time, approximately 27,000 such mortgages could meet the criteria.

Many more can meet them in the future. When we look at the very low level of switching that is taking place and the fact that, as of today, 27,000 mortgages in the non-bank sector may well be eligible, and are eligible in the view of the Central Bank based on its initial assessment, that should be the trigger for an awful lot more switching activity than is currently taking place. I envisage that in the coming months, now that everyone knows what the criteria are, many more mortgages will become eligible and fall within the scope of the criteria that have been agreed.

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