Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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205. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason that mortgage holders whose mortgages were sold by mainstream banks are now subjected to punitive interest rates by the mortgage purchaser without the option to switch providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52482/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that there is no legal or regulatory measure which prevents a borrower from switching his or her mortgage from one creditor to another mortgage provider.  However, the decision on whether or not another lender will provide a new mortgage to a current mortgage holder will, after assessing the creditworthiness of the borrower, be a commercial matter for the new mortgage lender.  Neither I nor the Central Bank have a role in such commercial matters.  The interest rates that mortgage creditors charge on loans is also a commercial matter for those entities. 

There is a comprehensive legislative framework in place underpinned by the European Union (Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements) Regulations 2016. The Central Bank has also put in place a range of measures, including the Consumer Protection Code, in order to protect consumers who are taking out or already have a mortgage.  The consumer protection framework also seeks to ensure that lenders are transparent and fair in all their dealings with borrowers and that borrowers are protected from the beginning to the end of the mortgage life cycle.

Where a loan is sold or transferred to another regulated entity, the regulatory protections that were available to borrowers prior to the transaction continue to be in place with the new owner. Consumers whose loans are sold or transferred, maintain the same regulatory protections that they had, including under the various Central Bank statutory Codes of Conduct, such as the Consumer Protection Code 2012 and the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears 2013 (CCMA). 

The Central Bank has said that it expects that all regulated entities take a consumer-focused approach in respect of any decision that affects their customers (existing and new) and communicate clearly, effectively, and in a timely manner with all customers.