Government washes its hands of the SVR issue

[Brendan Burgess]

Michael McGrath asked some very direct questions of Joan Burton today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoWuN7fhgoA&feature=youtu.be

1) Does the government have a view on the high rate?
2) Have you discussed the high rates with the banks?
3) Have you discussed them with the Central Bank?

She refused to answer them.

He asked again.

She refused again.

Brendan

 

[Butter]

First prize to Joan for waffle.

It's not too much of a surprise that the government is staying quiet on this issue as it helps the banks to restore their balance sheets. Depressing stuff. How much better would levels of arrears be if SVR rates were 2 points lower?

 

[cormacol]

Maybe the srv would be two points lower if people paid their mortgages.

For what it's worth I'm not convinced that the high srv is a cause of much default - it's not the driver but a symptom of the fact that property has been loss making and is nearly equivalent to unsecured lending given the mess that is Ireland