Sir, – If the Government wishes to assist citizens with the rising cost of living, an obvious place to start is mortgage interest rates. Mortgage interest rates in Ireland are more than twice the EU average. The only explanation or justification given as to why this is so is a lack of competition in the mortgage market. If this is the case, and the market is not functioning correctly, is it not the duty of the Government to intervene in the market to protect its citizens from excessive charges by powerful lending institutions? – Yours, etc,
DONAL WYSE,
Lusk, Co Dublin.