The central bank offered relief to first-time house buyers when it finalised new regulations on Tuesday that will introduce curbs on mortgage lending aimed at avoiding a repeat of the devastating 2008 property crash.

"We reserve the right to tighten them and ramp them up," Honohan told a news conference, adding that if the new rules prove to have been introduced in good time, this shouldn't be needed.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)