Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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100. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason home borrowers continue to pay more in interest on their home mortgages compared to those in other eurozone countries with less favourable economic achievements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23877/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Although Ireland is in a monetary union with other Euro area Member States, it has to be acknowledged that there are many factors, such as differences in national legal and housing systems, cultural preferences, language, the proximity of lenders to borrowers, which will continue to inhibit the full integration of the residential mortgage market, and of mortgage interest rates, in the Euro area and the wider EU.  More directly, differences in the nature of mortgage and other credit markets, credit and market conditions, mortgage default rates and the funding of mortgage credit will also impact on the levels of mortgage lending rates between and within different countries.

However, there have been some developments which seek to promote a more harmonised market for credit across the EU. In particular, the 2014 Mortgage Credit Directive, which has now been transposed into Irish law by the European Union (Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements) Regulations 2016, seeks to develop a more harmonised, efficient and competitive internal market for the provision of residential mortgages to consumer borrowers and this should help to promote the closer integration of EU mortgage markets over time.

In terms of the national context, the issue of the level of variable mortgage rates is an important one for this Government and it is committed to reducing the cost of secured mortgage lending and promoting competition in the supply of mortgage finance. To that end, I have requested the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to work with the Central Bank to set out the options for Government in terms of market structure, legislation and regulation to lower the cost of secured mortgage lending and improve the degree of competition and consumer protection. The CCPC has already commenced this work and has conducted a public consultation to gather views about the future of the Irish mortgage market. Based on this public consultation, it is expected that the CCPC will produce a final report outlining their proposals by the end of this month.

In overall terms, the Government is of the opinion that a healthy banking system which delivers increased competition is the best way to ensure that retail lending rates are driven down in a sustainable way for the market as a whole but without giving rise to potentially undesirable consequences for the provision of new mortgage lending.  This is a policy area that the Government will keep under active review in its ongoing engagement with mortgage lenders and in implementing the Programme for Government commitments to help deliver on a long term basis better outcomes for all mortgage borrowers.