Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 74: To ask the Minister for Finance if he has examined the possibility of introducing measures to promote greater availability of long-term fixed interest mortgages which would reduce the vulnerability of the economy to short-term interest rate movements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19389/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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There is a high degree of competition in the Irish mortgage credit market, providing a wide choice of competitively priced mortgage products including long-term fixed-rate mortgages. The choice of mortgage product ultimately rests with the consumer and the lending institution concerned. The preference of borrowers is influenced by factors such as their personal circumstances and their own assessment of the relative merits of fixed and variable rate mortgages. Consumers have the benefit of the information and advice supplied by the Financial Regulator.

It would not be appropriate for me in my role as Minister for Finance to seek to promote one type of mortgage product ahead of another. The information being made available by the Financial Regulator, together with the statutory information and warnings in the case of mortgages, serve as an adequate basis for consumers to make a decision about the type of mortgage which best suits them. The Financial Regulator's guide called "Mortgages made Easy" is available on its website or from its Consumer Information Office.

The Deputy may wish to note that while fixed interest rate mortgages may have a role in smoothing mortgage outgoings at individual household level, it would require a very high level of take-up of fixed-rate mortgages and a substantial shifting out of variable rate mortgages in order to have any significant impact on the Irish economy's response to changes in interest rates. In this regard, a key factor would appear to be consumers' individual decisions and preferences. Borrowers must, at any particular time, balance the premium payable as part of a fixed interest rate mortgage to ensure certainty in repayments, against the continuing, low levels of mortgage interest rates available to variable-rate borrowers.