Self-employed+PAYE worker

Myself and my boyfriend are renting in Dublin and would love to stop pouring money down the drain and get a foot on the property ladder. I earn about 32K in the health service, permanent and pensionable. My boyfriend has been working as a sales rep for about 4 years but has been self-employed since July 2005. Apart from rent his biggest expenditure is his car loan (500/month), he exects to make about 30K a year but his monthly income is very irregular. I have no loans or credit cards and we're both good savers. We're fairly certain we could come up with a house deposit but want to know if the bank would see us as a risk because of the BF being self-employed and his car loan. Anybody have any experience of this situation or any help?