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According to Cyril Roux, the Head of Financial Regulation at the Central Bank, the ECB are concerned at the political pressure being exerted on Irish banks to reduce mortgage rates.
Mr Roux described the Irish banking system as "quite fragile" with "weak profitability".
Given the chorus of regulators, central bankers and economic academics that have argued against any political intervention on variable rates, I would suggest that it looks increasingly unlikely that Minister Noonan's recent announcement will have any appreciable effect on the SVRs charged by Irish lenders.