driven corrections in the housing market. at the international level, the risk factors that i discussed earlier may generate higher mortgage funding costs and / or a downward revision in the prospects for income and employment growth in ireland. at the domestic level, a desirable expansion in the supply of housing would put downward pressure both on rents and house prices. as the national macroprudential authority, we are committed to ensuring that the domestic financial system remains resilient in the event of a reversal in house prices. the ceilings we have placed on loan - to - income ( lti ) and loan - to - value ( ltv ) ratios on mortgage loans are essential in limiting systemic financial risk emanating from the mortgage market. by guarding against excessive mortgage debt at the household level, these measures also serve a vital consumer protection function while also limiting the risk that a house price reversal is amplified at the macroeconomic level through deleveraging pressures on over - extended households. in relation to the financial health of the banking system, the mortgage measures are reinforced by the higher risk weights associated with mortgage lending in ireland under our capital requirements, together with the capital buffers we impose on systemically - important institutions. in discussing the risks associated with the housing market, it is essential also to maintain our focus on the legacy issues from the crisis. i next turn to discussing the management of npls, before turning to the financial conduct concerns that have been brought into sharp relief by the mis - handling of tracker mortgages across the irish banking system. non - performing loans the central bank ’ s work on mortgage arrears and npls spans its financial stability, prudential supervision and consumer protection mandates. within the remit of the central bank ’ s responsibilities, the approach to mortgage arrears resolution is focused on ensuring the fair treatment of borrowers through a strong consumer protection framework, while ensuring that banks are sufficiently capitalised, hold sufficiently conservative provisions, and have the appropriate strategies and operational capacities to resolve arrears. while there has been progress in recent years in reducing the stock of npls in ireland and across the euro area, significant challenges remain. in the absence of pro - active management, the remaining npl stocks may adversely affect the medium - term supply of bank credit and pose financial stability risks through elevated uncertainty regarding the true health of the banking 4 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches system. importantly, these risks render banks especially vulnerable in the event of a future downturn in the economy, such

philip r lane : opening of ireland's central bank dockland campus exhibitions speech by mr philip r lane, governor of the central bank of ireland, at the opening of ireland's central bank dockland campus exhibitions, dublin, 27 april 2017. * * * i am delighted that you could join us this evening to celebrate the opening of our visitor centre with two exciting and complementary exhibitions : the euro exhibition and pounds, shillings and independence. i am particularly delighted that stephanie van delft of the communications directorate at the european central bank is here with us this evening. stephanie, along with director general communications, christine graeff, deputy director communications, thierry bracke and director banknotes, ton roos was instrumental in sharing the euro exhibition with us. but why a visitor space in a central bank, you may ask? there is a simple answer to that question : we want people to understand what we do and why we do it, in order to facilitate greater transparency and understanding of our public service role. central banks across the world moved to the front pages of the newspapers in 2008 and have largely stayed there ever since. in that time, there has been extensive debate about monetary policy, financial stability policy and many other aspects of central banking that were previously considered arcane knowledge. but while the effects of ecb or federal reserve or national central bank decisions are widely reported upon and communicated, there is less focus on the motivation for those decisions. the central bank of ireland ’ s mandate is very clear : safeguarding stability, protecting consumers. every decision we take is in the public interest – albeit some of those actions may not be universally popular! explaining the rationale for those evidence - based decisions is important to us. while central bank independence is enshrined in the institutional and legislative framework of the european union, as well as domestic law, the flipside of that independence is accountability. and as a public institution, we take our obligations to be fully accountable for our actions very seriously. communications and accountability are therefore key components of our strategic plan 2016 – 2018. we demonstrate that accountability in several ways : our annual report and annual performance statement will be published next week ; we engage with oireachtas committees ; we publish minutes of our commission meetings ; we disclose operational information on our website ; and we explain our policies through a series of public speaking events and topical publications. the visitor space is another important element of that accountability. we share this vision with dublin city council, which requires that landmark