The decision to raise the fixed tracker interest rate to 4 percent will hit mortgage holders hard.
Many will be forced to pay an extra €3,000 a year to the banks. Yet these banks are making huge profits.
Even before the last increase, the big banks were making a fortune from the higher interest rates.
In the first six months of this years, for example, Bank of Ireland posted a profit of €1 billion. But a staggering €800 million of that came from increased interest rates.
These are the same banks that were bailed out by Irish taxpayers. They are allowed to write down taxes based on their previous losses.
People Before Profit says:
Cap mortgage interest rates at 3%. The government has done it for moneylenders, why not for vulture funds and banks?
The main banks can easily absorb this. If it drives the vultures from the market, so long and good riddance.
Tax banks and vulture funds to ensure they don’t profit out of rising interest rates. Introduce a windfall tax on remaining profits and end the disgraceful practice of allowing banks to continue to write off financial crash losses against profits.