Matthew Elderfield, a deputy governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, warned in a speech on November 26 of "a bad case of policy schizophrenia", as the demands of micro- and macro-prudential policy pull regulators in different directions.

Elderfield said concerns over the quality of bank balance sheets pointed to the need for "tougher, faster bank capital standards", while fears over the pro-cyclicality of such rules and the related problem of debt sustainability lent credence to the argument