New Central Bank figures show that the amount of money being lent in the economy continued its downward trend in September.
The bank said net mortgage lending fell by €14m in the month - the sixth monthly drop in a row. This means that once again the amount being re-paid on existing mortgages was more than the amount given out in new mortgages.
The fall brought the annual rate of growth in mortgage lending down to 0.3% from 0.8% in August.
The Central Bank also says that total lending in the economy fell by €4.4 billion in September. As was the case in previous months, this was mainly due to write-downs of the value of loans. The strength of the euro also affected the value of loans.
Excluding these factors, there was still a small fall in lending in September, the Central Bank said.
The figures also show that the amount spent by consumers on their credit cards in September was almost 15% down compared with the same month last year.
