Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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73. To ask the Minister for Finance whether Irish citizens who are living abroad and who have never bought a house here are still classified as first-time buyers under the new Central Bank mortgage rules if they return to Ireland, even if they have already bought and are planning to sell a house in another country. [15012/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank has informed me that a first time buyer is defined as a borrower to whom no housing loan has ever before been advanced (in Ireland or abroad). Where the borrower under a housing loan is more than one person and one or more of those persons has previously been advanced a housing loan, none of those persons is a first-time buyer.

The Central Bank has decided to introduce proportionate limits specifically to allow flexibility by lenders when assessing individual cases. The proportionate limits mean that lenders will be able to make decisions based on an individual borrower's circumstances up to a specific limit. Lenders will still be required to assess an individual borrower's affordability and lend prudently on a case by case basis, in line with the requirements of the Consumer Protection Code and other regulations.