Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy should not be scared of them. However, the first-time buyer is still a major player in the market. Although prices have risen, it is a question of affordability. The real test concerns the percentage of one's take home pay which one spends on one's mortgage. If one reviewed the position that obtained 20 or 30 years ago, one would probably find that in many cases, it was not significantly different, particularly in those cases where two people work. That is the key point. While prices have risen, interest rates and personal taxes have fallen and salaries have risen.

I am not happy and I do not think it fair that developers and financial institutions were the entities which made large amounts of money based on falling interest rates. However, the key question pertains to the affordability index and the percentage of people's take home pay which is involved.

Young people are doing reasonably well. While they buy new homes which appear to be extremely expensive, they appear to be able to furnish them etc. It has been some years since I bought my home.

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