Seanad debates
Tuesday, 25 March 2003
Order of Business.
I ask the Leader to make time available next week or the following week for a debate on the quarterly report of the Central Bank, which will be published tomorrow. The Governor of the Central Bank made comments today which I understand will be contained in the report. He stated that the level of bad debt ratio in the housing market has grown considerably in the past year or so. This shows clearly that a policy of lending far too much money to customers – which is pursued by some Irish banks – has led to a difficult situation in respect of an increasing number of bad debts. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Finance to respond to the report which will be published tomorrow. The housing market has entered a more difficult cycle and increasing pressure will be put on people, particularly those on the first step of the housing ladder, to make substantial repayments on mortgages.
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