Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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16. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has given consideration to the need to establish a code of conduct on mortgage switching, similar to the code of conduct on the switching of payment accounts with payment service providers, in view of the recent research undertaken by the Central Bank on mortgage switching; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23531/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Government considers that measures to encourage and promote a greater level of switching in the mortgage market would help boost the level of competition in the market for existing mortgages.  In particular, the Programme for Partnership Government considers that the development of a code of conduct for switching mortgage provider would be a useful and practical initiative which would have the potential to deliver savings to many existing mortgage holders. 

To that end, in 2016 the Central Bank commenced research in the area of mortgage switching which was completed by early 2017. The results of this research, which was published last month, will be used to consider the further particular measures to be advanced in this area. The Central Bank, in its Consumer Protection Outlook Report as published in February 2017, stated that it would bring forward any proposals for consultation based on these research findings. The Central Bank will, therefore, publish a consultation paper in Q3 2017 which will propose additional measures to facilitate mortgage switching for those consumers minded to switch.

This continues the Central Bank’s work to maintain a strong consumer protection framework for mortgage borrowers.  It builds on new Consumer Protection Code measures which came into effect on 1 February and which are aimed at enhancing transparency and facilitating consumer choice for variable rate mortgage holders.