Results 20,821-20,840 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: I wish to raise the issue of many home-owners who, in a sense, are trapped in the property they are in because they are in negative equity. They might have a tracker mortgage rate. Bank of Ireland introduced a product in April 2013 for people on tracker mortgages who wish to move so that if they qualify for a mortgage they can keep the tracker rate plus 1% for five years on that original...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: I just want to ask a technical question. If someone is on a variable mortgage and when they got the mortgage they were in a certain LTV bracket of maybe over 80% but some years later the property value has increased, they have more equity in the property and they fall into a lower LTV band, which would attract a lower interest rate, can they revise what band they are in or are they fixed in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: No change.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: That cannot be changed. What is the typical tracker rate being paid by Bank of Ireland customers? It is what plus ECB, typically?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: That is 105 plus the ECB rate. My final question is in the context of the Central Bank's proposed minimum mortgage deposit, which may or may not happen. Could I ask the bank what impact the introduction of non-recourse lending would have in Ireland? Would it have an impact on interest rates and the bank's disposition towards risk? It strikes me that if people are being required to stump...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: Bank of Ireland has advertised that it is offering a fixed rate of as low as 2% and a variable rate of just over 2% for defined periods of time where people have relatively low LTV ratios, but those rates are much more competitive than what Bank of Ireland is charging in the Republic.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: Has Bank of Ireland any intention of reviewing its standard variable rate on mortgages in light of current market conditions?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: Is the bank open to switcher mortgage applications? If I am with another bank, in a healthy financial position and want to transfer my mortgage to Bank of Ireland, would it be open to that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: When the committee asked that question of Bank of Ireland previously, the response was that switchers accounted for a low proportion of its mortgage business.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: I do not find Mr. Boucher's argument about pricing policy convincing. He was the one who drew the comparison with the UK market, calling it remarkably similar to Ireland's. He stated that the average rate Bank of Ireland charged in the UK was approximately 4%. However, the offering it makes to new customers in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK is remarkably competitive and strikingly...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: I thank Mr. Boucher. I have been signalled that I am moving on to my last question. It relates to Bank of Ireland's approach to insolvency cases under the formal Insolvency Service of Ireland process. Slide No. 40 that the delegation has provided shows that of the total 296 personal insolvency arrangements, Bank of Ireland is involved in 109, if I am reading it correctly. The number of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: Has Bank of Ireland approved cases that involved a reduction in a mortgage balance?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: I asked a question but it was not answered.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: Has Bank of Ireland approved PIAs proposed by PIPs that involved reductions in mortgage balances?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: Hold on a minute. A clear policy was stated the last time Bank of Ireland appeared before the committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: Is it still the bank's policy not to sign off on PIAs that involve a reduction in mortgage policies?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: I welcome Mr. Boucher, Mr. Farrell and Mr McLoughlin. As my time is limited, I can only cover some of the key issues. I want to continue with the issue the Chairman raised, in particular about the pricing strategy for standard variable rate mortgages. The bank is currently charging in the region of 4.5% for a new mortgage if the loan-to-value is over 80%. How can Mr. Boucher justify that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: The bank's margin has increased very substantially. Its cost of funds has reduced very substantially by about one third in the past 12 to 18 months and yet Mr. Boucher is telling me it is about six years since Bank of Ireland has reduced the standard variable rate being charged. One of the bank's main competitors, AIB, has stolen a march on it in the market and has reduced its rate. I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Schemes (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: 4. To ask the Minister for Finance if his Department will be making a submission to the Central Bank of Ireland on mortgage lending rules; his views that a State-backed insurance scheme for first-time buyers would conflict with the proposed Central Bank of Ireland rules; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42041/14]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage Schemes (5 Nov 2014)

Michael McGrath: This question is quite similar to Question No. 2 in the name of Deputy Pearse Doherty which related to the proposed Central Bank rules on minimum mortgage deposits and the Minister's views on a mortgage insurance scheme. It seems that the thrust of the Minister's comments in response to that question was that the two issues needed to be viewed separately. He suggested the proposed Central...