Taoiseach Simon Harris has called for “fair play” from Irish banks in relation to mortgage holders, as interest rates are expected to be cut by the European Central Bank later this week.
Mr Harris said mortgage holders have seen their repayments rise over the last two years due to ECB rate hikes, during a “cost-of-living crisis that is still biting, that’s still hurting people”.
“It looks like we’re now moving into an era of interest rates reduction,” Mr Harris said.
“Just like when there was an era of interest rate increases that impacted mortgage holders in the negative, I want to see these reductions impact them in the positive.”
The Taoiseach said that households on tracker rates will benefit automatically from any ECB rate cut, while calling on the same banks to pass on reductions to variable rate customers “as quickly as possible”.
He said he wants to sit down with banks to discuss the current mortgage landscape, as Europe enters an “era of light interest rate reductions”.
Alongside meeting with traditional banks, Mr Harris also said he is interested in meeting with “alternative providers” as well as credit unions.
It is understood that Mr Harris will seek to meet with banks in the coming weeks, with some institutions having already made contact following his election as Taoiseach in April.
Alongside calls for mortgage rates to fall for many customers, it is understood that Mr Harris also wants to discuss how banks can protect customers on fixed rate mortgages when their contracts end.
The ECB first began hiking interest rates two years ago, as part of efforts by the European monetary authority to curb inflation across the eurozone.
Since then, there have been 10 hikes in total, with tracker mortgage holders feeling the brunt of each increase. Under current expectations, the ECB is expected to drop the rates by 25 basis points at its meeting on Thursday.
