Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to deal with one matter related to the property or housing ladder at that time. Based on the testimony of other witnesses and evidence laid before the inquiry, there seems to be a general acceptance that Ireland is a house-purchasing nation. Before, during and after the crisis, we continued to be a nation in which the most desirable type of accommodation for the majority of people was a purchased home. During the 2002 to 2007 period we saw massive increases in the cost of homes, with properties that once cost two to three times the average industrial wage going up to eight or nine times that wage. Property affordability was such that mortgage terms grew from an average of 20 to 35 years and so forth. Newspapers such as the Irish Examinerwere reporting this dynamic because, as Deputy Murphy said, that was the type of thing that people walking down Patrick Street were discussing. What is Mr. Vaughan's view of the impact, if any, of the reporting of increasing house prices during the pre-crisis period from 2002 to 2007, as carried in the Irish Examinerand other mainstream news titles, and the concept of the housing ladder? Was the presentation of what was happening in the housing market adding to the frenzy and encouraging people to purchase now, because if they did not do so they would not be able to afford to later on?