Clear property crash warning ignored, inquiry hears

The risk of a property crash was “clearly flagged” but ignored by senior staff at the Central Bank as far back as 2004, the bank’s former head of financial stability has claimed.

And in 2007, as the economy was at a tipping point, warning calls made by Frank Brown were also not heeded and a more positive outlook was put out by the institution, it was alleged.

In a statement to the banking inquiry, Mr Brown claimed that, as the economy became more fragile, the “language of concern was going in the opposite direction”, with warnings being toned down by senior management before they were published.