Fine Gael has today pledged to increase mortgage interest relief for people in negative equity to help them save up to €166 a month.
Publishing its banking policy today, the party also said it would shut down Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide building society by the end of the year and to stop future asset transfers to Nama from the other banks.
It said the plan would bring the sector ?back from the brink? and stimulate economic recovery.
Finance spokesman Michael Noonan said the party?s aim in government would be to achieve a ?well-regulated, competitive, profitable, and privately-owned" banking system.
?Crucially, given that the taxpayer has bailed out the banks, we believe the banks must now act in their interests. The banks must go to work for the negative equity generation,? Mr Noonan said.
The party had set out an alternative banking policy two years ago that would have used the period of stability provided by the guarantee to restructure the banks and ?where appropriate, impose losses on the banks? investors and bondholders?.
Fianna Fail had, however, ?landed the public with a €100 billion bill for the banks?.
Mr Noonan said Labour?s plan to nationalise the entire banking system would have had the same result.
Fine Gael has also proposed cutting bank costs to avoid interest rate hikes for consumers. The party said it would ensure ?fraudulent bankers? were pursued for their crimes and that they would face the law.
It would close Anglo and INBS before the end of the year and halt future asset transfers to Nama from Bank of Ireland, AIB and EBS.
Fine Gael said it would also make bondholders share the burden of the debts of insolvent financial institutions. The policy document also proposes the introduction of a partial loan guarantee scheme for small and medium businesses.
Mr Noonan said, within the first 100 days in government, Fine Gael would require all the banks that are in receipt of taxpayers? money to come up with plans to cut their cost-base. "We want them to cut their cost-base to the level where they can reduce the rate on the variable mortgage by a quarter of one per cent," he said.
Fine Gael in government would also be potentially interested in negotiations with the California-based Silicon Bank which provided packages of credit and loans to the high-tech sector.