Fine Gael Kildare South TD Martin Heydon has today (Thursday) said that he will continue to put pressure on Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Taoiseach Enda Kenny to do all in their power to force banks to reduce their variable interest rates.  Deputy Heydon was speaking following a reply he received from a Parliamentary Question to Minister Noonan setting out what has been done to date in this area.

 “I am pleased that Minister Noonan confirmed that the regulation of interest rates remains a policy area under active review and has been the subject of recent discussions and correspondence between his Department and the Central Bank, including a meeting he held with the Governor Patrick Honohan on 2nd April.  He also confirmed that the Central Bank would continue to engage with specific lenders who appear to have standard variable rates set disproportionate to their cost of funds.

“This is an area that is crippling many families already struggling to pay their mortgages, many of whom feel they are unfairly bearing the brunt of banks powers as they are stuck with variable rate mortgages.  It is an area that has to be tackled and I have encouraged the Minister to keep as much pressure as possible on both the banks and the Central Bank in their role as regulator to ensure there is some movement in the very near future.