Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My questions are not about the bond yields, although I propose to comment briefly on that issue. On Professor McHale's comment that the quantative easing programme was responsible in part for the fall in Irish bonds, it could also be argued that it also played a part in the fall of bond yields in Greece. I do not believe Greece reaching its targets was the result of it being subject to a bigger drop than any other European country.

I have a couple of questions for the delegates. Reference was made to the house price study carried out by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council in which issues such as supply and demand and so on were addressed. There has been no lending in the economy, yet house prices in certain parts of Dublin are increasing dramatically. This increase is also starting to filter countrywide. If there is an increase in the availability of credit, is there a chance it will push up house prices even further? While it may not create a bubble, it could cause a major problem that would have effects in other areas. Is that not what we should be concerned about? Regardless of what we do, we cannot turn back the clock by six years and start building the 7,500 houses per annum required. We are not at this time in a position to build those houses. As such, a problem will arise when the banks start to lend. Is it not the case that we can reasonably expect the banks to lend more into this market and that this will have the automatic consequence of further increasing house prices in the capital?