Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As a proud Galway hurling supporter, I join with colleagues here in congratulating and wishing every good luck and success to Henry Shefflin, who has announced his retirement. He broke our hearts on many occasions and we have all marvelled at his amazing skills. We should thank him for the amount of enjoyment that he brought to so many people during his long and illustrious sporting career.

I welcome the announcement made yesterday by the Minister for Education and Skills of additional resource teacher support for children with Down's syndrome. The economy is beginning to pick up and more resources are becoming available. I hope that those resources will be targeted at children with special needs and people with disabilities. It is wrong that parents and service providers have had so little certainty down through the years and have had to constantly fight for the minimum resources. I urge the Government to ensure that as resources become available they are targeted at people with special needs.

I ask the Leader to organise a debate in the near future on the excessive variable mortgage rates charged by Irish banks. The matter has been mentioned in this House before. We should invite the Minister of State or Minister for Finance here to discuss the matter. It is one of the biggest issues facing Irish consumers, particularly young people trying to organise a mortgage to buy their first home. Variable interest rates are 1.79% higher than the eurozone average, which means Irish consumers are paying €1.2 billion more than they should, representing an overpayment of €3,300 per annum or €275 per month. We must ask ourselves why a Belgian or German borrower can get a long-term fixed-rate mortgage at 3% while an Irish person trying to organise a variable-rate mortgage must pay 4.5%. As we know, all eurozone banks are subject to the same refinancing rate of 0.55%. This matter needs to be inquired about. Mr. Brian Hayes, MEP, has highlighted the fact that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has refused to investigate the matter. What more significant issue faces Irish consumers than the cost of banking? I call on the agency to reconsider its position and ask it to investigate why Irish banks charge so much more than their eurozone counterparts. We should also have a full, frank and open discussion with the Minister for Finance on the matter in this House.