Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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36. To ask the Minister for Finance to list the changes in standard variable rates at the largest banks in the State since he met them in May 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17519/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The issue of variable rates in Ireland is a matter which I have been concerned about for some time. Last year I requested a report on the issue from the Central Bank. The Report entitled 'Influences on Standard Variable Mortgage Pricing in Ireland' was subsequently published on the Department's website and is available here: www.finance.gov.ie/sites/default/files/Influences%20on%20SVR%20Pricing%20in%20Ireland.pdf.

As you will be aware, I also met with the main mortgage lenders at that time and outlined my view that the standard variable rate being charged to existing and new Irish mortgage customers was too high.  The banks agreed to review their rates and products and to have simple options to reduce monthly mortgage payments for standard variable rate customers. The banks publish details of their interest rates on their websites.

In September 2015 I concluded a series of follow up meetings with these banks and I think that it is fair to say that there have been considerable movements in the mortgage offerings of the Irish banks in the last twelve months.

More particularly, for example, since May of last year AIB have reduced their SVR on three occasions. There have also been cuts to loan-to-value variable rates and fixed rates at AIB, EBS and Haven as well as two SVR cuts at EBS and Haven. Furthermore, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank have reduced their fixed rates for mortgage customers, while Permanent TSB introduced new Managed Variable Rates (MVRs) based on loan-to-value, which should represent reductions for SVR customers. In addition, KBC reduced its SVR and fixed rates. These are just a sample of the offers available to customers.

Many of the banks also have offers of cashback or contributions towards switching fees to encourage switching customers. Furthermore, the fact that some of these measures have been announced recently is an illustration that competition does pressurise banks to make offers in order to attract and retain customers.

In this regard, I am pleased to note that a Central Bank statistical release of 10^thJune 2016 showed that Principal Dwelling House (PDH) mortgage rates fell across all instrument categories over the 12 month period ending in the first quarter of 2016. The most pronounced fall was observed for standard variable rate mortgages which declined by 49 basis points to 3.64 per cent over the year ending Q1-2016. Fixed rate PDH mortgage rates also declined, with rates fixed for 1-3 years falling by 34 basis points over the same period.