Professor Patrick Honohan:

Second, I am not going to take seriously the views of the banks when they do not agree with this policy. I am not surprised they do not agree with it. We are regulating them, but instead they say leave it to them as they know how to do this stuff. They have not shown us that they are able to do it safely. There is an indicative ceiling, above which they can have 15% or 20% of their lending to take account of the nuances of the situation. What we are concerned about is systemic risk, not individual risk. We are not saying a person cannot have a loan because he or she will not pay it back. We are saying some portion - only a portion - of the loan book risk can be above this limit. Otherwise, the banking system and, therefore, the State could be placed at risk. We are trying to put it in place ahead of a boom.

There is much concern among people about whether they will ever get on the housing ladder. There is a perception of a ladder going up and psychology is coming into play in a way that will not happen.