General housing policy, including policy on home ownership and the provision of mortgages by local authorities, to people who are unable to get a mortgage from a commercial lender for the purpose of purchasing a private house, is primarily a matter for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. In that regard, the housing policy statement, published in June 2011 by that Department, signalled a shift to a tenure neutral high level objective and a clear commitment to restoring balance to the housing sector generally through a lesser reliance on home ownership. As such, Government will not act to prioritise one form of housing tenure over another. Nevertheless, the policy statement reaffirms the State’s commitment to supporting access to home ownership for lower to middle income households and the current range of paths to home ownership that are facilitated by house purchase loans from local authorities will remain in place in that regard. I should also add that direct lending to Approved Housing Bodies in the voluntary and co-operative housing sectors is now in place through the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) which operates under the aegis of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, and full details of the activities of the HFA can be found on the Agency’s website, http://www.hfa.ie .
Regarding the provision of mortgage finance for home purchase more generally, this Government is pursuing a number of actions to ensure that an increased, but financially sustainable, level of mortgage credit will be available to new borrowers from commercial lenders to meet the needs of the economy and society. This includes the very significant restructuring and right sizing of the banking sector to make it more focused on the real needs of the economy and the resolution of the existing problem of significant mortgage arrears and unsustainable mortgage debt which is acting as a drag on economic improvement.
Ultimately the Government is of the view that it is the regeneration of the economy, the restoration of employment levels and income growth that will provide the real social and economic improvements that will be required. That is why Government is focused through its many new initiatives at fostering and generating economic growth. The successful achievement of this objective will restore consumer confidence and bring the tangible and sustainable recovery that the country requires.
On the issue of financial inclusion, the Government has already commenced the process of providing universal access to basic banking services. The introduction of a Basic Payment Account is part of the Department of Finance’s Strategy for Financial Inclusion in Ireland. The Basic Payment Account is being developed as a gateway product for wider financial inclusion, that is, access to insurance, savings and credit products and work on introducing a Basic Payment Account in Ireland by certain providers commenced in 2012. Following an evaluation process, a full national rollout is planned for this year.
