John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Professor Lane and his colleagues are welcome. I was not going to ask about the housing market, but I feel as if I must based on what he has said. I do not think his analysis that the market may decline or lose ground in two or three years' time is earth shattering. It will be reported as being quite a statement, but my view is that it is in no way earth shattering. He has given the reasons he thinks it might occur, which is fair. He has also said it is a consequential decision for any individual to buy a house. We know that housing markets are invariably volatile. Professor Lane has mentioned things that he thinks have improved the position or that will protect house owners that were not in place, even in the recent past, such as large down payments and levels of exposure to household debt, things the Central Bank can determine. In Professor Lane's opinion there have been improvements in all of these factors.

However, when Professor Lane talks about managing risk versus learning hard lessons from the past, are there more things which we should be doing now based on his commentary that this may occur in three years' time? Are there further policy measures that need to be taken to counteract what may be coming down the tracks? What does Professor Lane mean by managing risk? What steps is he taking or have all the steps been taken? Surely this is the question. From my experience, and I was here in 2008, commentary from governors of the Central Bank is important, but in the past it has fallen on deaf ears. It makes for a newspaper headline and then the market quickly forgets it. In the past Professor Lane's organisation has not taken concrete steps to make sure that people are not badly affected, so when he makes that statement I have to ask what exactly he is saying. With that in mind, what prescriptive steps need to be taken by legislators and policymakers?