Mark Keenan quoted Irish Mortgage Brokers on the topic of how the Central Bank regulations were affecting prospective property buyers.

Meanwhile, Karl Deeter of Irish Mortgage Brokers described Mr Frisell’s comment as “effectively engaged in social engineering”.

“If they know that shifting people from ownership and into rental is the outcome of their policy, and they keep on doing it, then we have to assume that this is the outcome they have been pursuing,” he said.