Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will give clarification regarding mortgage interest rates (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36884/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Neither the Central Bank nor I, as Minister for Finance, have a statutory role in the setting of interest rates charged or paid by financial institutions regulated by the Central Bank. Based on the recent advice received from the Central Bank, I have no plans to recommend to Government that legislation be introduced to compel lenders to reduce their standard variable rates. The question of how interest rates paid on deposits should be treated would also have to be considered in the context of such legislation. However, I will keep the matter under review.

The Central Bank have informed me that, using their existing powers, they will engage with lenders which appear to have standard variable mortgage rates set disproportionate to their cost of funds. Credit institutions are not primarily or always funded from the ECB, but rather from a number of sources.