Ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón féin a chur in iúl do theaghlach Private Séan Rooney, a chaill a shaol go tragóideach sa Liobáin, agus dá chomhghleacaithe uilig sna Fórsaí Cosanta, Óglaigh na hÉireann.

Tá an ECB leis an ráta úis a ardú arís. Beidh an ráta tar éis dul ó 0% nuair a bhí an samhradh ann go dtí 2.5%. Mar atá a fhios ag an Tánaiste, tá teaghlaigh ag streachailt ó thaobh costais mhaireachtála agus beidh tionchar ag an ardú seo ar dhaoine a bhfuil morgáiste rianúcháin acu agus ar theaghlaigh a bhfuil a gcuid morgáistí díolta do na creach-chistí.

The European Central Bank is expected raise interest rates by another half a percentage point today, which will bring the rate to 2.5%. Somebody on a mortgage of €200,000 will see their repayments increase by more than €3,000 per year. This will have an immediate impact on the 194,000 households who have tracker mortgages. The fate of those on variable rates or whose fixed rates are due to expire lies with the banks and whether they decide in the coming months to pass this interest rate on. We in Sinn Féin have repeatedly made our position on this clear but I will repeat it - the banks should absorb these interest rates in the interest of their customers. They are profitable, have an increased market share and have paid out dividends to their shareholders already this year. Not only that, they are uniquely positioned to profit on the back of rising interest rates, although they should not. They should do the right thing. I ask that the Tánaiste, on behalf of the Government, echo that call.

In October I asked the Tánaiste and his Government to examine options to introduce a targeted, tailored and time-bound mortgage interest relief for struggling mortgage borrowers who are facing, and will continue to face, sharp increases in costs due to interest rate hikes. Will he clarify whether the Government has undertaken any of this work? As he knows, there is another cohort of borrowers who are now at the sharp edge of interest rate hikes. Over the past number of years, tens of thousands of borrowers have had their mortgages sold off by the banks to vulture funds and for years Government Minister after Government Minister has told the Dáil, these same borrowers and the public that vulture funds offered the same protection and safeguards to mortgage holders as the banks. At the time of Permanent TSB selling its split mortgage loans to a vulture fund, the Tánaiste told the Dáil, and assured homeowners, that they would be no worse off.

I never bought that line and now more than ever the truth is laid bare. Vulture funds are aggressively hiking rates higher and faster than the banks. One borrower, who is a mother of three, wrote to us and told us how her interest rate from Pepper has increased from 3.7% to 6.4% Her monthly repayments have been hiked by more than €300 per month, which is over €3,500 per year more that she must pay, in interest alone, and that is before the ECB puts the interest rate up again today. The borrower has rightly said this would not be the case if she remained with Permanent TSB. Another borrower wrote to us. He is also a Pepper customer. His mortgage loan was sold by Permanent TSB. His interest rate has been hiked from 4.5% to 6.5%. In his own words, "This is the sentence we have been served by these vultures… how are we supposed to sustain this… factor in cost of living rises and our two kids, we are very worried about the future". Again, the ECB interest rate hike will put that individual's interest on his mortgage at 7% and in the case of some others it will be more than 7%. There are thousands more such cases. There are 100,000 people who have had their mortgages sold off to vultures. This puts to bed any notions that vulture funds treat borrowers in the same way as banks do.

Does the Tánaiste accept these borrowers who had their loans sold to vulture funds are now in a worse position with the interest rate hikes? Will the Government commit to examining options for a targeted, tailored and time-bound mortgage interest relief? What actions will the Tánaiste's Government take given more and more families are likely to face repayment difficulties in the months ahead?

I thank the Deputy. We understand the ECB will make an announcement on interest rates today. We do not know what it is going to be but it is anticipated there will be a further increase in interest rates announced. We hope it is the last one, or failing that, the second-last one. As the Deputy will appreciate, the ECB is independent in its functions and it has a particular remit to bring inflation under control and down to something around 2%. That is the reason interest rates are being increased by the ECB but obviously this is going to be extremely unwelcome news for mortgage holders and other borrowers, who will see the cost of their repayments rise and that is coming at a time when the cost of everything is rising. I am conscious it is going to be unwelcome news and difficult for many families and other borrowers in the period ahead.

To answer the Deputy's question, we do not have any plans at present to reintroduce mortgage interest relief. It existed in the past but did so, generally speaking, at a time when interest rates were much higher than they are even now. It is not something we will rule out for the future but there are no current plans to do so. It would involve reopening the budget and all the consequences that would derive from that.

When it comes to variable interest rates, it is a commercial decision of the banks and other lenders to set those and they will have to take into account a number of factors. When interest rates go up, the cost of borrowing for banks goes up as well, because banks get much of their finance from the ECB and there could also be an impact on deposit rates too. However, my message to the banks is they should not use rising interest rates as an opportunity to increase profit margins, and that is the message we will convey to them with regard to interest rates. It was the case for a very long time that interest rates paid by Irish borrowers were very much higher than the European average. We have seen that narrow in recent months because many of the banks have not passed on the increases, which is welcome.

When it comes to funds I will have to talk to the Minister for Finance and then come back to the Deputy. My understanding is when loans or mortgages transfer, the contractual terms remain the same and cannot be changed unilaterally. Provided the person adheres to the contract the lender must honour the contract, but the Deputy is telling me that is perhaps not the case. Certainly, if he has individual cases or examples, I would be happy to examine them and take them to the Minister for Finance for further examination.

The funds are not breaking the contract. They always had the ability to do this, just like the banks have the ability to pass on interest rate hikes, which they are not doing because they have long-term interest. The funds have no such interest. That is why family homes should never have been allowed to be in the hands of vulture funds. We have people who are going to get another letter after today, the fourth such letter since the summer, saying the interest rate on their mortgage has increased again. For people that is going to put an extra €4,000 in interest on the repayment of their mortgage. For many families, that tips them over the edge. When families are sitting down at the end of the day, it does not matter whether that is €4,000 to heat the home or €4,000 to keep a roof over their heads, it is money they have to find somewhere.

There is a particular need now to examine the issue of mortgage interest relief that can be tailored, that can look at the increase we are seeing, which is brought on by inflation, which is a result, in the main, of the war in Ukraine and the issues with energy and so on. Therefore, just as with other one-off, time-bound measures, we need to look at a relief for mortgage holders on the huge interest spike they face right now.

Go raibh maith agat.

There are people facing into Christmas who do not know how they are going to meet January's mortgage bill.

I call on the Tánaiste to respond.

I really think the Government needs to intervene. I heard what the Tánaiste said - and will finish on this-----

Go raibh maith agat.

-----that the Government has not ruled it out completely but I encourage it at least to examine options.

Go raibh maith agat a Theachta. We are way over time.

We have prepared options with the Parliamentary Budget Office. We are happy to share them with the Minister for Finance and I encourage the Tánaiste to take action on this matter.

I thank the Deputy. I absolutely appreciate that interest rates going up will be very unwelcome for tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of families across the country. Those with tracker mortgages, for example, will receive that letter, the fourth such letter in only a few months telling them their repayments are going up. The same will apply to people on variable rates and that is not welcome. As the Deputy will appreciate, the ECB makes its decisions independently of European governments. It is raising rates in an effort to bring down inflation which, if successful, will be of benefit to everyone. However, that is no consolation to people who have seen their repayments rise, and rise very sharply, over the past couple of months.

We passed a budget in this House only a few weeks ago and that did not include the reintroduction of mortgage interest relief. As the Deputy noted, it is not something we are going to rule out. It existed in the past when interest rates were, generally speaking, much higher. We will be happy to look at any proposals the Deputy has but I do not want to raise false expectations. The budget was only agreed recently and we have only just signed off on the Finance Bill. To reopen the question of the public finances after only a few weeks, indeed before the budget even comes into effect, would have other consequences we would have to consider.