Mr. Stephen Bell:

There is a key point which links into the Senator's previous questions. The lesson we all have to learn from the mortgage arrears difficulties is that affordability should drive borrowing capacity, not loans to value. There absolutely should be deposits, but the key is that we do not overstretch people from an income affordability point of view. We fully support the Central Bank's indications concerning loans to income, but we are concerned about the potential, unintended consequences of expecting higher deposits for first-time buyers.