Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. Are there any other responses? We will move on. I will make a couple of quick comments. I compliment the credit unions and also Deputy Doherty on bringing forward this proposed legislation. Hopefully, it will come to the stage he aspires to as soon as possible.

One issue that has been brought to my attention over the years is a loan to repay a loan from whatever source. It is always dangerous territory. If a person gets into difficulty arising from an existing loan they are attempting to repay, they will get into more difficulty unless there is a careful evaluation of the situation and the response is tailored to meet the ability of that person to pay. Otherwise, he or she will get into difficulty. That applies at a time when interest rates are low and hopefully, they will remain that way.

The other issue is that borrowing rates with regard to house loans and mortgages at present are, in some cases, three and a half times the gross income of the earner or variations of that amount. I must say, from my experience in dealing with loan applications through the local authorities, etc., I believe that is at the limit of the towns.

Another thing that has come to my notice is the number of people who got loans from lending institutions on an interest-only basis. The interest-only basis encourages people to borrow more, unfortunately. The lenders will say they will try to see if people are capable of dealing with the loan and if they are, the lenders will perhaps facilitate them again. It does not always work that way. Eventually, the day of reckoning arrives and everything comes together at the same time. Some lenders - I am not talking about the credit unions or the people present - do not always wish to accommodate the borrower to the extent the borrower would like or had anticipated when the loan was originally taken out.

I worry about this final point because it will have a knock-on effect on all borrowing. As far as I can see, house price inflation at the moment is at an all-time high. It is a huge disadvantage to first-time borrowers, who see this on two sides. On one side is the investor or vulture or whatever one wishes to call them and on the other is a person, who for very genuine reasons, will say that he or she wants to sell his or her house to move further away, buy a cheaper house and have no mortgage. In actual fact, that displaces the first-time borrower as well. The first-time borrower must face somebody else with the ability to access cash in fairly substantial amounts competing with him or her in the market.

A couple of issues, therefore, need to be monitored in the future with a view to trying to ensure that we do not come to a crash, like we did before, and find many properties in negative equity. Everybody borrowing at present should have careful regard to the fact that rapid inflation can lead to negative equity. While negative equity is not a real problem to a person who is not selling or does not have to move to a different location, it presents a serious problem and impact for someone who needs to move on for one reason or another.

Before I close the final round of questioning, would anyone like to comment?