Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 85: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Permanent TSB continue to charge very high standard variable rates of more than 6% on investment retail mortgages, their reduction of 0.5% on the SVR applicable to home loans was not passed onto these borrowers and that this policy of retaining higher interest rates to offset the losses on tracker mortgages is causing financial difficulties for these borrowers; if he will ask PTSB, which has received significant support from public funds and has access to low rate European Central Bank lending, to address this issue and ensure those borrowers who are paying their debts are not unduly burdened as their SVR has increased from 3.84% in April 2009 to 6.34% in January 2012, whilst the ECB rate declined from 1.5% to 1% in the same period meaning the margin for PTSB has increased from 2.34% to 5.34%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24520/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Notwithstanding the State's significant shareholding in the bank, Permanent TSB ("PTSB") operates at arm's length from the State in relation to commercial issues. Ultimately the pricing of financial products, including standard variable mortgage interest rates, is a commercial decision for the management team and board of the bank, having due regard to their customers and the impact on profitability, particularly where the cost of funding to the bank, including deposit pricing, is under pressure. Credit institutions are not primarily or always funded from the ECB, but rather from a wide variety of sources. Neither the Central Bank nor the Department of Finance has a statutory function in relation to interest rate decisions made by individual lending institutions at any particular time. However, 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.