Aideen Hayden (Labour)
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I apologise for arriving late. One of my colleagues was sick in the Seanad and I had to sit in on a fisheries debate. We are flexible in the Seanad. We are masters of everything or none, depending on one's view on fisheries policy.

I will start where Senator Craughwell left off. It relates to the Governor's statements in relation to mortgages and the consultation process. There are two issues I want to raise. First, it was mentioned that the Governor is engaging in this consultation process because these new measures will improve the resilience of the banking sector generally. The witnesses mention in their submission that they believe these new measures will have a significant impact on the availability of mortgage finance to key customer segments. They give the impression, which they have also done at this meeting, that it might be a severe measure given the market at present. As somebody who has studied housing historically, it strikes me, and Mr. Mitchell alludes to it, that the focus on customer affordability and repayment capacity is a more important matter than loan-to-value ratios for the sake of argument. This three times income is harking back to the 1970s, 1980s and earlier when we were dealing with a completely different mortgage market and a different interest rate regime than at present. The Governor has indicated that part of the reason he is doing this is to avoid another bubble in the housing market. Does Mr. Masding believe we are either in or approaching a property bubble?