Dr. Peter Bacon:

There are two reasons. The average industrial wage is not representative of the average wage within the economy. Most people in Ireland now work in the services sector. I am sure Deputy Higgins has a better handle on it than me. The proportion of the labour force which earns the average industrial wage is very small. In respect of the proportion of the labour force engaged in industry, as measured by the average industrial wage, a figure of 25% or 30% sticks in my mind, although I stand to be corrected on that number. The use of the term "average industrial wage" is always, to my mind, a misleading term. It is an official term but it is misleading in the sense of providing a measure of average incomes of would-be house purchasers. I am sure the numbers that Deputy Higgins quoted are arithmetically correct but they are the result of the fact that a significant number of people earn more than the average industrial wage.

The second question Deputy Higgins asked me was why I measured the analysis in terms of mortgages. That is how most people and most first-time buyers finance the purchase of homes. It is the element most relevant to them.