Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

In regard to the bubble period, the professor said on a number of occasions today that property was extremely popular, that many people were making lots of money - land sellers, professionals, banks, construction workers - and that this felt great at the time. He was an adviser to the then Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, in October 2010 when he said, controversially, "Let us be fair about it, we all partied." Is the professor re-echoing that sentiment in regard to the bubble?

Does that tally with the fact that a substantial number of people felt they did not party? Many people were excluded from the housing market because of the huge price increases. The generation that managed to get on the property ladder were saddled with 35-year or 40-year mortgages pitched at unsustainable levels. Plus, a substantial number of people never bought or sold a home over that time.