Proposals from Central Bank asking house buyers to provide a 20% deposit have been slammed by Fine Gael.

Cork North West TD, Áine Collins, said a workable solution must be found as a 20% deposit is "completely unrealistic".

She said: "One possible solution could be for the mortgage lender to take into consideration the amount of rent paid by people over a period of time before they applied for their loan.

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"The fact is that this is money that people haven't been able to save on deposit, because it has disappeared into their monthly rent payments over many years. Perhaps the bank could take these rent payments into account and look for a 10% deposit instead.

"Nobody wants to go back to the irresponsible lending of 100% mortgages. However a 20% deposit is simply too much for a young person to pull together when they have been renting. Even the 15% deposit speculated about today in the media is unrealistic for most people."

(CD/JP)