Not sure I follow entirely what you’re getting at Ryan but the 4.1 per cent decline would refer to lending to households in the month of November compared to lending November 2010.

As in the total amount of money loaned? Say the households of Ireland owed €100Bn in Nov. 2010, declining to €95,9Bn last month?

In other words, it’s not a reference to new lending alone?

Thanks, Hugh.

Ah I see what you mean. The figures refer to overall loans I think and not just new lending.

Looking at the figures a little more closely you would be right in thinking that amounts outstanding have declined, at least that’s my reading of them – this could be interpreted as a good thing, yes. But then the figures include money being lent for mortgages which is declining, is this a good thing? Well again that depends on your view on the issue of home-ownership.

This might be of interest to you: http://www.centralbank.ie/polstats/stats/cmab/Pages/Money%20and%20Banking.aspx – Particularly Table A.5.1 loans to irish households purpose and maturity which should give you the information you’re looking for.

Thanks, as always :) I’ll have a read of that once I’ve fed the brood.

Personally, I reckon when it comes to personal debt (as in credit cards etc.) the reduction can be seen as A Good Thing. We are coming from a high level of per capita indebtedness that is boggling-that is, personal debt without the mortgages taken into account.

Now, when it comes to mortgages, as we know, like our neighbours across the water in Britain, we like to “own” the roof over our head-this is often put forth as a uniquely Irish phenomenon, with some commentators trying to blame it on the Famine/Occupation etc. etc. There’s probably some historical basis for that, but it’s just the way we do things, we tend not to rent for life. Bear in mind I’m talking about homes here, not houses.

So, at the risk of sounding like Donie Cassidy, we have a surplus of houses, many (but obviously not all by any means) of which are in locations where people would live, at the right price (now that’s a whole other dissertation!), and we have at the moment a predominantly young population many of whom would buy a home, rather than a rung on the ladder, would that credit were extended to them on reasonable terms. Where I am now, houses are exchanging for prices that could conceivably be borrowed on ten year terms from Credit Unions rather than banks, which hasn’t been the case for a long long time. And it’s happening, albeit at a glacial pace.

Overall, I think the banks need to get back into the mortgage market again, but lending on sensible and sustainable terms to savvy purchasers who know what they’re getting into. Houses need to be affordable again, and price is only one part of that, credit on a real world basis is the other.

A sustainable and scaled property market is nothing to fear. At the moment we have nothing.