Lenders are turning down mortgage applicants because their employers were availing of the wage subsidy scheme. In some cases, the people applying for the mortgage were not even aware that their employers were availing of the scheme. The lenders are using the wage subsidy scheme to reject mortgage applications. These lenders assume that any company availing of the employment wage subsidy scheme is about to fail. That is not true, as the Tánaiste knows. Some of the largest employers in the country are availing of the scheme.

As the Tánaiste is aware, we are in the middle of a housing crisis. It has been reported that lenders are cancelling mortgage facilities to applicants who were already given the go-ahead. That means people are losing their homes and deposits. What is the Government going to do to ensure lenders are not using the wage subsidy scheme to blackball mortgage applicants?

I thank the Deputy. This matter has been raised by Ministers in our interactions with the banks.

As the Deputy knows, it is a tricky issue. If somebody is in receipt of the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, by definition, the company he or she works for must be down 30% or more in terms of turnover. While that does not mean that person's job is at risk, it means it is more at risk than someone who works for a company that is not in receipt of the wage subsidy scheme.

Banks cannot turn a blind eye to that when it comes to calculating risk. We need to be honest about that. Again, however, I understand the case the Deputy has made. In our engagement with the banks, we make the point that while this is a commercial decision for them and they must assess it as part of their risk calculation, they need to be sensitive to people and have regard to that.