The Taoiseach rules out an immediate restoration of mortgage rate relief – but this could be implemented in the future

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has ruled out any restoration of mortgage interest relief, as demanded by Sinn Féin in Dáil today.

We’re not considering it, but we’re not ruling it out in the future,” he said.

The government would like to consider any opposition proposals, but there would be costs involved, he said.

Mortgage rate relief had cost the treasury €700 million a year at its peak before being phased out in recent years.

The European Central Bank has signaled further hikes “at a steady rate” to bring inflation down to 2 percent, Mr Varadkar noted.

There is no guarantee the EU will hit the peak of the interest rate cycle, but it will be discussed at this week’s European Council meeting in Brussels, he said.

More than 90 percent of new mortgages are now fixed-rate, but that was no consolation for people with tracker mortgages, whose repayments reflected the upward trend in the ECB’s base rate, he said.

But Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said the ECB’s rate hike for the fifth time since last July has meant hundreds of thousands of workers and families have to pay hundreds of thousands more a month.

“The cost of heating has gone up, the cost of fueling the car and the list goes on,” she said.

“One person told me this morning that their annual mortgage is now up by €3,000 a year and that’s before it increases again next month.”
The mortgage rate rebate should be set at 30 percent with a maximum benefit of €1,500 and last for a year, she said.

Of course, the state cannot cover all of the additional costs, but it can help, she said.

Mr Varadkar said the increases were “highly undesirable” for people with home loans.