Figures released by EuroStat show that Irish house prices rose by 15 percent in the 12 months to the end of September - that is more than six times the EU average of 2.3 percent - and 30 times the euro zone average of just 0.5 percent.

Ireland had the highest rate of house price inflation during the period - Estonia was second with a 13.2 percent increase, followed by Latvia and the UK - where house prices rose by 11.7 percent.

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/

On the other end of the scale - the biggest price drop was in Slovenia, where prices fell by 5.4 percent. Italian prices were also down by 3.8 percent, and Romania saw a decrease of 2.3 percent.

In Ireland, increases in house prices have been centred around Dublin, with numerous reports suggesting that they escalated by over 20 percent in the capital during 2014.

Eurostat's House Price Index is comprised of data from national statistical agencies across the EU.