Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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211. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the Central Bank of Ireland restrictions on mortgage lending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6111/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank of Ireland is the authority for the formulation of macro prudential regulations in respect of regulated financial service providers.  In that regard, the Central Bank has now announced the introduction of new regulations which will apply proportionate limits to mortgage lending by such institutions in the Irish market. The key objective of these regulations is to increase the resilience of the banking and household sectors to the property market and to reduce the risk of bank credit and house price spirals from developing in the future.  However, it should be noted that there are some exemptions to the rules in certain circumstances.  For example, the principal home loan to value (LTV) ratio restriction will not apply to a borrower in negative equity who wishes to obtain a mortgage for a new home. Additionally, in the case of principal dwelling loans, lenders can exceed the LTV threshold in respect of up to 15% of loans advanced for such purposes and can exceed the loan to income ration in respect of up to 20% of such loans.  These macro prudential measures are supplementary to individual banks' credit policies and are not designed as a substitute for lenders responsibilities to assess affordability and lend prudently on a case-by-case basis.