Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Governor. May I make a suggestion? As costs are rising, in that trajectory there is always a period of very high movement of house prices. To follow on from what my colleague said, we spent two years with a few other members of this committee in these windowless rooms. There needs to be sufficient flexibility. Professor Lane has mentioned that there are fundamentals. I think that is the term he used. Those fundamentals need to be able to trigger something. We need to understand what would be triggered in respect of situations where the Governor may have to intervene more than once a year.

I understand his thought process in respect of the market but, equally, if the fundamentals are moving at such a pace, something else may be necessary. I suggest that he give some thought to how he explains the triggering of those fundamentals to us in order that we are able to have confidence that he is flexible enough to move in a period of high inflation in respect of house prices.