The average credit card debt in Ireland stands at €1,330, down only marginally from 2008 when credit card debt peaked, according to figures supplied to an Oireachtas Committee.
Giving evidence to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, Central Bank Head of Statistics Joe McNeill said that although overall indebtedness is falling, there is a core of historic debt that is not being repaid.
Mr McNeill said that households are spending less than they are earning, but that the money is going toward repaying debts rather than spending, which he said has negative implications for consumption.
Mr McNeill said the total level of credit card debt had fallen from just under €3bn at the end of 2008 to €2.6bn by the end of last year.
Part of the fall was due to some credit card companies leaving the Irish market.
He said average debt per card had not fallen significantly, from €1,350 at the end of 2008 to €1,330.
Mr McNeill said this suggested many new transactions were being repaid, but there was a portion of historic debt that was not being reduced.
The Central Bank does not have a breakdown of where the debt lay, but would be conducting a household income survey over the coming months to get more accurate detail on the financial position of a sample of households.
The committee heard that overall personal debt including mortgages, amounts to €190bn, compared to overall assets of €600bn, but again Mr McNeill said there was no breakdown of how the assets were dispersed among the population.
Fine Gael's Peter Matthews said the €190bn indebtedness figure was "staggering".
The Committee Chairman, Labour's Alex White, asked whether people had a "head in the sand" attitude in not paying off their credit card bills first.
