To save you the hassle of complaining to your Fine Gael TD

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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This is the standard letter which the TDs have been told to send in reply.

Dear



Thank you for taking the time to contact me on this matter.



I fully understand why struggling mortgage holders are frustrated with their banks, which have not reduced their standard variable rates in line with ECB wholesale rates, unlike other euro area countries.



High mortgage repayments are placing a significant burden on householders’ budgets and I’m conscious of the fact that these repayments come on top of significant sacrifices people have made since the onset of the financial crisis.



It is important to remember that when Fine Gael entered government in 2011, the economy was in ruins and the banking sector was in deep crisis. Four years later, the banking sector is stabilising and the banks are slowly returning to normality. However, we're not there yet and we have still not returned to a fully privatised and competitive banking sector.



I would like to stress that the Government supported the pillar banks during the crisis for the benefit of Irish consumers, not for the banks themselves. Nonetheless, the Government has not interfered in the commercial decisions of the banks, such as the pricing of financial products. The Government is not in a position to direct what interest rates should be; nor does it want to become the director of what they should be.



The Minister for Finance met the Governor of the Central Bank recently to discuss the situation. Both the Minister and the Governor noted the lending charges to banks and the rates being charged to mortgage holders. The Central Bank has undertaken to do further work on the scale of what is involved and the justification of the banks for the higher rates being charged to Irish mortgage holders in comparison to their counterparts in the eurozone.



I believe it’s unacceptable the banks have not passed on to mortgage holders the lower interest rates from which they have benefitted. My colleagues and I in Fine Gael recognise the importance of this issue and Minister Noonan has assured us that he will be monitoring the situation closely.



Again, thank you for contacting me on this matter, which I will be pursuing in the coming weeks.



Yours sincerely
 
At least it means it is somewhere on their agenda. It's a very nice, carefully worded letter designed to keep people quiet.

It would be interesting to see how much progres they have "pursuing the issue in the coming weeks".

I think there is an opportunity for this govt to come up trumps on this issue & have a lot of very grateful SVR voters. The local TD’s can take credit for “pursuing” it on behalf of their electorate & get rewarded with our vote.

Another poster in a different thread made the point that coming up to election time there are a whole load of groups each threatening to withhold support if their issue isn't dealt with. This is true but I think our campaign has an advantage as, in the main, it is made up of the coping class, who generally turn out & vote.
 
SallyM said:
This is true but I think our campaign has an advantage as, in the main, it is made up of the coping class, who generally turn out & vote.
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Yes, and if Eoghan Harris is correct, they generally vote Fine Gael.

Mortgage rate row could lose Fine Gael vital seats
Let me make two predictions. First, the SVM issue is much more dangerous to Fine Gael than the water protests. Most of the water protesters would not have voted for Fine Gael anyway.
But most of the suffering SVM group are coping-class Fine Gael voters. And they are coldly angry. That could cost Fine Gael vital marginal seats.
 
I hope that people continue to write to their local TDs despite this predominantly negative response which they are likely to receive from those in the Fine Gael party. I'm sure there are many FG politicians of conscience that will feel uncomfortable with their parties approach particularly if they are contacted by large numbers of people and this may influence the issue in the weeks to come. Also, this would seem like a powerful issue or platform for those in opposition or hoping to contest seats in the next 12 months.

In short, people should still complain to their local Fine Gael TDs despite this standard response as otherwise we have no hope of changing the FG party line on the issue.
 
I have written to Fine Gael both on the SVR issue and the length of time taken to return tracker mortgages to PTSB customers (re. ongoing CB enforcement action). No Fine Gael representative replied. Then I wrote to them stating that I (and my family in support of me) will not be voting for them in future elections. And guess what? Someone from Fine Gael rang me within a few hours. I agree with Bomb Voyage. Keep the pressure on them. Let them continue to send us their standard letter if that's what they want. We shouldn't be making their lives easier as they don't seem to be acknowledging the impact of the banks on Irish voters.
 
Well with respect to my own Personal case regarding ptsb reinstatement of tracker mortgages I feel it's gone on too long, many years in fact. Ptsb has been a state bank for a number of years. The fact that it took so long to drop it's appeal to the Supreme Court after the high court upheld the fso finding is a disgrace. It took 3 years. And the state owned the bank and let this drag on for so long. And now customers entitled to their trackers back are been told to await the outcome of the investigation while continuing to pay high interest rates. Ptsb knows who has been impacted since 2009 and the government is sitting back letting them drag this out.
With respect to svr again the bank is a state owned bank. The taxpayer has bailed out the bank and is also paying high interest rates despite the bank borrowing money from the EU at the lowest in years. At a minimum the existing svr mortgage holders should be receiving the same rate as new customers.
 
So in answer to your question. Regarding the ptsb tracker investigation the government should be putting pressure on the ptsb to close this out ASAP. There is always the risk that this will drag on for another long time if the tracker rates offered are high. Therefore there could be a lot of people going to the fso again. So the government should be ensuring ptsb close it out right first time. With respect to the svr the government should ensure ptsb pass on the lower svr that new customers obtain to existing mortgage holders at a minimum.
 
meh,

What's the point in writing to TDs complaining about SVR s if you are not going to complain about the lack of repossessions. Karl Deeter's article in the Irish Times, was a surprise even for a sceptic like me. Lower SVRs and more Competition cannot happen until there are consequences to not paying your mortgage.

It seems the wishful thinking and magic money tree type logic did not die out in the bubble
 
Fair enough PTSBCase but how does the Government ensure that PTSB sets any particular mortgage rates at any particular level? I think it's fair to say that PTSB are already under considerable moral and political pressure to reduce SVR rates for existing customers.
 
futures said:
meh,

What's the point in writing to TDs complaining about SVR s if you are not going to complain about the lack of repossessions. Karl Deeter's article in the Irish Times, was a surprise even for a sceptic like me. Lower SVRs and more Competition cannot happen until there are consequences to not paying your mortgage.

It seems the wishful thinking and magic money tree type logic did not die out in the bubble
Click to expand...
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It was always implied and clearly understood that Standard Variable Rate SVR Mortgages would stay broadly in line with cost of funds.
This is not an issue over anything other than a verbal contract broken by PTSB.

This is not to do with (magic) money, nor is it wishful thinking.
It is will PTSB do what they verbally in their umpteen offices said they would do ?
 
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