Mr. Brendan McDonagh:

We went through a property crash and it has been very painful. A lot of people are stuck in negative equity. They overpaid for houses and are still stuck. In respect of the 5,000 houses we are funding and that will be built by the end of 2016, we are certainly seeing that in the starter home market since the new mortgage restrictions came in earlier this year - the €220,000 limit introduced by the Central Bank - people are finding it very difficult to get into the starter home market. Once the price of a three-bedroom, 1,100 ft. house in Dublin goes above €315,000, we find that people cannot get the extra money. It might be an extra €10,000 or €15,000.

They would love to get that money to buy a home, but they cannot make it up. One can see the reason for the Central Bank's prudential rules, but this is a matter for the Central Bank. It is independent, but this is creating a major issue. If the people in question cannot buy their own houses, they will stay in the private sector rental market, and if rents increase rapidly, they will not be able to save the difference quickly enough to make up the shortfall.