Ms Marian Finnegan:

What has evolved over the last couple of years is that while cash is still a very significant part of the marketplace, it is almost by choice. Of the transactions that took place in the first six months of the year in Ireland, 51% were with cash and the rest were with finance. That still appears to be absolutely abnormal, but the cash transactions are being driven by investors buying with cash, because the banking finance that is available is not attractive. People who sold in the last number of years, because the market fell by 50% or 60%, have come back in with cash and they are reinvesting in the marketplace. There is bank lending. There is no doubt that the banks are willing to lend and there is more competition, with more attractive financial products being made available, but they are still only facilitating half of the marketplace. The other half is being directly facilitated with cash.