Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Dr. O'Hagan-Luff is making the point that where banks give out a loan, they do not know if they are going to be able to repossess the house. A person taking out a loan today is doing so in different circumstances and a different scenario than what happened before the crash. Before the crash, wages were cut, interest rates - in some cases - went up, there was no market and no rental market. It was a different scenario. People are taking out a mortgage now in the full knowledge of what happened during the crash.