Mortgage rates and bank charges
Deputy Mattie McGrath criticised high mortgage rates, bank behaviour, and the squeeze on households, while the Tánaiste linked higher Irish rates to bank charges, smaller markets and difficulties in repossessing properties. The exchange became a back-and-forth on the cost-of-living crisis and vulture funds, with no agreement beyond recognition of the pressure on borrowers.
The Tánaiste is completely out of touch with reality regarding the hardship people are facing. The ESRI report published today is shocking and finds that people could be paying more than €2,000 extra. What about the squeezed middle, particularly those with mortgages to pay, given the predicted increases in interest rates? The average mortgage interest rate in the eurozone is 1.46% while in Ireland it is 3.64%. What is wrong here? That rate is going to increase. The banks are exiting even though we bailed them out. The public had to take the pain there but the banks are getting away scot-free. They are giving no rest or breathing space to hard workers who want to have their own homes and pay for them. People have had no problem doing that but they need a break here. They need some kind of parity with our so-called great friends in the EU that ye all talk about. Everything is twice as dear or more than twice as dear here. Why is this happening in Ireland?
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Deputy McGrath must be the one who is out of touch if he needs an ESRI report this morning to tell him that we have a cost-of-living crisis.
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I did not need it. I am saying that the Tánaiste might read it.
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He should give it to his friends and his party, so they might read it.
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Anyone looking at their utility bills over the past couple of months would know that. They would know we are facing a cost-of-living crisis, that we have high inflation and that it is largely driven by energy prices.
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The Government should take note of it.
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On interest rates, the Deputy knows the answer to this. We have higher interest rates in Ireland relative to other countries and there are three reasons for that. They have higher bank charges than we do. In those countries they have bigger markets so there is more competition, and also in Ireland, for very good reasons, we make it very hard to repossess properties and evict people-----
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-----which means often debts go unpaid for years and years. The truth is that the cost of that is socialised.
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The Tánaiste is really out of touch.