This week, the CEO of AIB announced that further mortgage interest rate hikes were on the way. Every quarter of a per cent rise in interest rates adds €30 per month to the cost of repayments for every €200,000 borrowed. This increase will affect 70,000 AIB variable interest rate mortgage customers directly, and the move is likely to be followed by other banks, as has been the trend in recent times.

This move will push more people into mortgage arrears. The Tánaiste knows that AIB is State-owned, with the people owning 99.8% of it, and that it has received €21 billion of taxpayers' money. What is the Government going to do about this?

What has happened to the Labour Party's commitment that it will help home owners weather the recession? Two years ago yesterday, the Tánaiste launched the Labour Party plan for distressed mortgages and household debt. Two years ago, he told families that if the Labour Party was in government, they would enjoy peace of mind and that banks had already received hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money and there must be a quid pro quo for those in mortgage distress so that they would be given a breather. What has happened to those promises? Since then, billions more have been given to the banks, the numbers in mortgage distress have doubled and the Master of the High Court has claimed people struggling with mortgage distress are committing suicide. Since then, 180,000 families have found themselves facing mortgage distress, which is one in every four mortgage holders. Where is the breather and the peace of mind the Labour Party promised these families?

Since then we have gone on to implement what was in that document. We have brought forward legislation on personal insolvency to establish a personal insolvency service. The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has introduced proposals on mortgage-to-rent and a range of measures to support those in mortgage distress.

We are not happy with the response of the banks. We have put in place personal insolvency legislation that establishes a personal insolvency service. That legislation sets out a framework by which banks are required to reach settlements with those with mortgage difficulties. The Governor of the Central Bank has already spoken about this and has indicated his unhappiness at the speed and urgency with which the banks are taking on the issue of mortgage distress. This is an issue the Government will continue to pursue and address. The difficulties faced by householders in paying their mortgages and the difficulties they have in their dealings with the banks must be addressed. We have put in place legislation that establishes the personal insolvency service, putting in place a range of supports for those in mortgage distress, and they will have to be implemented.

Can the Tánaiste genuinely claim that after two years of the Labour Party being in government, it has provided any peace of mind or any breathing space for those in mortgage distress? That claim cannot be made despite having been in power for two years. The Tánaiste talked about the Personal Insolvency Bill but the banks retain a veto so they have the final say. The mortgage-to-rent scheme was piloted a year ago and rolled out eight months ago but only eight applications have been processed. Does the Labour Party claim to have dealt with this? There are 180,000 people in mortgage distress but the mortgage-to-rent scheme has only processed eight applications.

The banks are treating the public with contempt. Last October, Fiona Muldoon, the head of banking regulation at the Irish Central Bank, was scathing in her criticism of the bankers and their failure to address the issue. The Government has done nothing except to heap more charges on those in mortgage distress through the family home tax. What is the Government going to do for those 70,000 people on variable interest rate mortgages with AIB to give them some peace of mind or breathing space? Will it call in the banks and tell the CEO of AIB, which we own, that it is unacceptable to raise mortgage interest rates when we are in the middle of the greatest mortgage crisis the State has ever faced? Will the Government allow those people some peace of mind until the issue is resolved?

The cornerstone of Government policy is to enable people to continue to live in their own homes. The greatest fear anyone has is that he will lose his home. The Government approach to the mortgage crisis has been to ensure people are able to live in their own homes. That is why we brought in legislation for the first time in this State that puts in place a range of ways in which agreements can be made between householders and their banks to deal with their mortgage arrears problems. We have also put in place a range of supports that will provide that peace of mind to people that no matter what happens, where people are making the effort to pay the mortgage, or where they cannot pay for a variety of reasons, they will not lose the roof over their heads.

Will the Government call the banks in?

We talk to the banks all of the time. This is the first Government that has had a serious engagement with the banks about how they deal with mortgage arrears. I have said frankly that we are not satisfied with the speed and urgency with which the banks are dealing with the mortgage issue. Deputies need be in no doubt that we will deal with the issue effectively with the banks. That is the approach we are taking and it is being effective. That is the approach that is in the interests of those in mortgage distress.

What about the interest rate hike? That was the question I asked.

The Deputies only interest in this is to score a political hit.

The Tánaiste is scoring an own goal.

That is the approach. The Deputy comes in here and has more to say about other political parties and scoring points against them than he does about supporting those in need and mortgage distress. This Government has acted on the issue of mortgages and legislated for it.

The problem is now twice as bad.

This Government will stand by people in mortgage distress.

Will the Tánaiste call the banks in?