Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not intend to make wild claims for it. I will not suggest we necessarily would not have had a property bubble or boom if such information was made available many years ago, as individuals might still have been stampeded into buying property and led to believe prices always increased and never collapsed. We might still have had banks failing to undertake due diligence assessments of individuals and offering sums of money that were unrealistic to purchase property in circumstances where a due diligence investigation would have indicated such individuals were entering into unaffordable arrangements. I do not, therefore, want to make wild claims for the register. It is a brick in the wall of the protections necessary for individuals and provides for a degree of transparency. I again thank the Deputy for his interest in the matter and the suggestions he has made.

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