The governor of the Central Bank has called on the European Central Bank to increase interest rates.
But People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, who is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Budgetary Oversight, has said that this would “impose even greater hardship on already hard-pressed families and households” as the cost of living crisis continues to bite.
The government should instruct banks in Ireland to absorb any further rate increases and not pass rises on to mortgage holders and borrowers, particularly as interest rates in Ireland are already much higher than in the rest of Europe.
The interest rate hikes underline the need to rapidly accelerate the delivery of affordable housing as extortionate house prices potentially could lead to a whole generation of young workers being saddled with an unaffordable mortgage debt burden.
Richard Boyd Barrett TD said, “This week I will raise this issue with the government and call on them to instruct banks in this country, who were bailed out by the taxpayer after the financial crisis, not to pass on any further rate increases to the mortgage holders and borrowers. People simply cannot take anymore, and the government need to be strong on this and protect people from further increases.”