"It's reasonable to assume that money going into overseas property would otherwise be managed by IAIM members, " Gary Connolly, chairman of the Irish Association of Investment Mmanagers' (IAIM) products and markets committee, told the Sunday Tribune.

He also said it was likely that some of the SSIA money coming out of maturing accounts in the last year was being put into holiday homes abroad, rather than regulated investments such as PRSAs and unit funds, but that the lack of regulation in the property industry prevented a clear view of the money flows.

"With maturity impending, a decent proportion will find its way into overseas property, " he said. "There's a lot of advertising now pitching to the SSIA investor. We can only infer the amount, though, because of a lack of regulation."

The IAIM issued its annual personal investment survey on Wednesday and reiterated its call for regulation of overseas property sales, calling it "a scandal in the making".

Some estimates put the amount of Irish noncommercial investment in foreign property at up to 15bn. The IAIM expressed concern that Irish investors were leveraging equity in their own homes to invest in less stable housing markets abroad.

The survey found new business among IAIM members last year was down 25%, to 2.1bn, on 2005 . . . a drop it attributed partially to net flows out of SSIAs. IAIM members manage funds worth 260bn.

Connolly said the body's concern with foreign property was "not out of greed. . . but concern investors were not diversifying".