Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 94: To ask the Minister for Finance the progress he has made in persuading the main Irish banks and other lending institutions to permit persons who have fixed rate mortgages to transfer to variable rates without incurring significant costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25319/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, fixed rate mortgages can be regarded as a form of insurance against interest rate changes as fixed rate mortgages provide certainty and security to borrowers regarding the level of their repayments.

When a borrower signs a fixed-rate mortgage contract with a mortgage provider, the lender in turn enters into an agreement where they borrow the money at an agreed rate. The mortgage lender must repay the money at this agreed rate, so there is a cost to the institution if the fixed rate agreement is terminated before the agreed term which gives rise to the redemption fee charged in these cases.

On 26 March 2009, I undertook, in this House, to raise concerns regarding the level of redemption fees with the Consumer Director of the Financial Regulator who has a statutory mandate to safeguard the interests of consumers. At the beginning of April my Department wrote to the Consumer Director to request confirmation that redemption fees charged for switching from a fixed rate mortgage cover funding costs only and that there are no other costs included.

To date, the Financial Regulator has been able to confirm to my Department that all mortgage lenders have responded and provided the formula they use when they calculate the early redemption fee that applies to fixed rate mortgages. The Financial Regulator is awaiting independent verification by an actuary that the fee charged by a number of lenders recoups only the costs incurred by the lenders when they finance the fixed rate mortgage. However, the verifications received show that the formulae applied by the relevant lenders seek to recoup the loss to them arising from the early redemption of the fixed rate mortgage and do not seek to apply a penalty charge to the borrower.

The Financial Regulator is also examining whether any other costs are being charged such as administrative fees. Any such charges may be subject to approval by the Financial Regulator under section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act 1995 and will be examined further in that light. To date, the responses indicate that most lenders do not levy additional charges in the case of early redemption of fixed rate mortgages.

The Financial Regulator has advised that further analysis may be necessary once all of the information is received and reviewed. Should the remaining analysis by the Financial Regulator indicate that further consideration of this issue is required, it will be carried out.