Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 November 2016
318. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government following the publication of his action plan for housing and homelessness four months ago, the status of the progress made to date on action 2.13 to introduce an AHB innovation fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35063/16]
View answerA number of Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) have begun work on developing innovative financial models to fund their delivery of social housing. It is hoped that these efforts could potentially present the opportunity for delivery on a significant scale, while also meeting off-balance sheet requirements and achieving lower cost long term fixed price funding for AHBs.
To encourage and support further activity in this area, my Department established an Innovation Fund in April 2016 to support AHBs in their development of innovative financial models that would assist in improving the capacity of the sector. €300,000 has been provided in 2016 as a fund for which Tier 3 AHBs can apply. It is anticipated that further funding will be made available in 2017.
Access to funding is on the basis of formal applications made to my Department. Details of the fund were circulated in April 2016 and a further reminder issued in July 2016 calling for applications to be submitted for consideration. The closing date for receipt of applications was 1 November 2016. My Department is currently examining the applications received in line with the criteria set down in the call for proposals.
