Re-introduction of Mortgage Interest Relief: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2023-04-25
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

It is hard to fathom that since July of last year we have seen six increases in ECB interest borrowing rates from 0% to 3.5%. Knowing, as we all do, that this represents hundreds if not thousands of euro worth of additional pressure on already hard-pressed families and workers, it is hard to fathom why Government has not done a single thing to support people. In fact, the increases in mortgage payments for many families go way beyond countering any supports that they have received by means of other cost-of-living measures. Now we are told that another increase is coming down the line, and the Government again tells us that it plans to do nothing to support those families who will struggle as a result.
The people who have suffered most as a result of these hikes are those who suffered on the previous occasion when Fianna Fáil was in government and whose loans were sold to the vultures. They are being crucified by the vulture funds that were welcomed into this country by the parties in government.
There is also another time bomb that is ready to explode, and that is those thousands of families who are currently on fixed rates and whose fixed-rate periods are coming to an end. They will see an astronomical increase in their payments. It is imperative that Deputy Doherty's motion before the Dáil is passed and implemented because the outworkings of the alternative do not bear thinking about.
In a week in which the Government announced €1 billion in subsidies for developers, what we are putting forward is a proposition to support the people at the coalface. What we propose would cost €400 million at most.
Question No. 435 answered with Question No. 434.

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Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-04-25