Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 February 2019
207. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government when the capital allocations for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan will be distributed to county councils in 2019; the reason for the delay in distributing the funding to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8827/19]
View answerThe Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan launched on 1 February 2018. Prior to its launch, an initial tranche of €200 million of long-term fixed-rate finance was borrowed by the Housing Finance Agency to provide funds for the scheme to local authorities.
When the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan was initially being developed it was estimated that the drawdown of loans under the scheme would be approximately €200 million over three years. From the data collated on the scheme to date, the RIHL has proven to be more successful than initially anticipated, as a result of which, the scheme would require a further tranche of funds to be borrowed by the HFA in order to enable its continuation.
My Department is currently in discussions with the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance with regard to an extension of the scheme in this regard. When these discussions are concluded I will be in a position to make an announcement on the matter.
