How the competition regulator, Central Bank, and finance ministers let down mortgage holders 

For most of the last 10 years, Ireland's mortgage borrowers have been paying €3,000 a year more in interest than they would have been paying elsewhere in the eurozone

When the CCPC and the Central Bank were falling down on the job, the ministers for finance should have stepped in with legislation. 

For most of the last 10 years, Ireland had the highest mortgage rates in the eurozone. And those rates were not just a little bit higher — at times, they were twice the rate, meaning an Irish borrower with a typical mortgage was paying up to €3,000 a year more in interest than they would have been paying elsewhere in the eurozone.

The banks kept these rates at high levels through anti-consumer practices by attracting new customers with low initial rates and cash-back offers. But when this initial rate period was up, the customer went onto the much higher existing customer rate for the rest of the mortgage term.