Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

For the record, no matter what provisions Professor Honohan makes against it, if hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs again, they still will not be able to pay their mortgages. All the provisioning in the world will not help. Similarly, we have a major problem with access to affordable housing.

I have a question about the mandates of central banks, given that Professor Honohan is coming to the end of his term. Does he not think that we should be looking, at a European level, at banks having a mandate? The European Central Bank does not have a mandate that extends to such things as access to affordable housing, as against, for example, the US Federal Reserve. What does Professor Honohan think of that? The issue of property was at the centre of the previous crisis and it is coming into view again.

As time is running out, I have a final question about the issue of non-tax revenue coming in to the Government, which was in the statement that Professor Honohan put out in the last few days.