Tags: Cork, interest rates, Ireland, Michael McCarthy, mortgages, politics

Michael McCarthy

LABOUR Party Senator for Cork South-West, Michael McCarthy, has called on the Government to take action in relation to the recent hike in mortgage interest rates by Permanent TSB.

Speaking during the Order of Business in Seanad Éireann this morning Senator McCarthy said, “It is absolutely outrageous that in a country which has bailed out and recapitalised the banks to the tune of many billions of taxpayers’ money the very people who propped up and bailed out these banks are now being targeted because the banks are taking full advantage of the fact that Government policy is behind them.

“There is no accountability and no transparency. The banks have been bailed out and recapitalised and are taking full advantage. This is outrageous. An increase of half of 1 per cent adds about €60 to a mortgage of €200,000, a sum that is beyond the means of many ordinary decent people.  Where does the Government stand on this?”

So far the Government has resisted all calls to put in place an adequate framework for protecting families at risk of losing their homes.

“At the very least, they must implement Labour’s proposal for a moratorium on home repossessions so that the immediate threat of losing the roof over your family’s head is removed for the duration of the recession,” he said.