I propose to take Questions Nos. 699, 706, 710, 712, 727 and 728 together.
The Housing Agency provides a central support service which assesses applications for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan on behalf of local authorities and makes recommendations to the authorities to approve or refuse applications. Each local authority must have in place a credit committee and it is a matter for the committee to make the decision on applications for loans, in accordance with the regulations, having regard to the recommendations made by the Housing Agency.
The most recent figures, as at the end of February 2019, indicate that the Housing Agency had assessed 4,153 applications since the scheme began. Of these, 674 were deemed invalid, 1,772 were recommended for approval, and 1,682 were recommended for refusal. The data provided does not include figures on the number of applications returned for further information.
The Housing Agency compiles figures on the number of applications it has assessed and subsequently recommended to approve on a county-by-county basis, and the available figures as of the end of February 2019 are as set out in the following table.
|
Local Authority
|
Applications Assessed
|
Recommended to Approve
|
|
Carlow County Council
|
48
|
17
|
|
Cavan County Council
|
18
|
8
|
|
Clare County Council
|
54
|
19
|
|
Cork City Council
|
125
|
63
|
|
Cork County Council
|
282
|
159
|
|
Donegal County Council
|
34
|
20
|
|
Dublin City Council
|
395
|
241
|
|
Dún Laoghaire - Rathdown County Council
|
92
|
49
|
|
Fingal County Council
|
490
|
264
|
|
Galway City Council
|
74
|
34
|
|
Galway County Council
|
123
|
46
|
|
Kerry County Council
|
97
|
41
|
|
Kildare County Council
|
173
|
87
|
|
Kilkenny County Council
|
30
|
16
|
|
Laois County Council
|
79
|
42
|
|
Leitrim County Council
|
11
|
4
|
|
Limerick City & County Council
|
97
|
55
|
|
Longford County Council
|
33
|
16
|
|
Louth County Council
|
89
|
37
|
|
Mayo County Council
|
57
|
23
|
|
Meath County Council
|
227
|
142
|
|
Monaghan County Council
|
25
|
9
|
|
Offaly County Council
|
44
|
15
|
|
Roscommon County Council
|
31
|
13
|
|
Sligo County Council
|
44
|
22
|
|
South Dublin County Council
|
247
|
128
|
|
Tipperary County Council
|
95
|
37
|
|
Waterford City & County Council
|
60
|
21
|
|
Westmeath County Council
|
29
|
19
|
|
Wexford County Council
|
101
|
54
|
|
Wicklow County Council
|
150
|
71
|
|
Total
|
3,454
|
1,772
|
In addition to this, my Department publishes information on the overall number and value of (i) local authority loan approvals and (ii) local authority loan drawdowns. Information up to the end of Quarter 3 2018, including in relation to number and value of mortgage drawdowns, is available on the Department's website at the following link: http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/statistics/house-prices-loans-and-profile-borrowers/local-authority-loan-activity.
As part of the Review of the operation of the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan scheme, my Department obtained information form the local authorities on loans drawn down to the end of January. These details are set out in the following table.
|
Local Authority
|
Loans issued to end January 2019
|
Value of loans issued to end January 2019
|
|
Carlow County Council
|
5
|
€510,000
|
|
Cavan County Council
|
1
|
€180,000
|
|
Clare County Council
|
14
|
€1,708,622
|
|
Cork City Council
|
1
|
€120,000
|
|
Cork County Council
|
25
|
€4,058,900
|
|
Donegal County Council
|
3
|
€204,875
|
|
Dublin City Council
|
111
|
€23,525,855
|
|
Dún Laoghaire - Rathdown County Council
|
5
|
€1,264,500
|
|
Fingal County Council
|
82
|
€18,254,259
|
|
Galway City Council
|
11
|
€1,679,000
|
|
Galway County Council
|
17
|
€2,263,781
|
|
Kerry County Council
|
6
|
€812,600
|
|
Kildare County Council
|
68
|
€14,973,597
|
|
Kilkenny County Council
|
6
|
€803,240
|
|
Laois County Council
|
12
|
€1,836,100
|
|
Leitrim County Council
|
0
|
€0
|
|
Limerick City & County Council
|
2
|
€343,800
|
|
Longford County Council
|
5
|
€356,875
|
|
Louth County Council
|
10
|
€1,829,500
|
|
Mayo County Council
|
8
|
€793,100
|
|
Meath County Council
|
57
|
€11,051,630
|
|
Monaghan County Council
|
1
|
€67,500
|
|
Offaly County Council
|
0
|
€0
|
|
Roscommon County Council
|
2
|
€242,000
|
|
Sligo County Council
|
8
|
€869,000
|
|
South Dublin County Council
|
29
|
€6,671,918
|
|
Tipperary County Council
|
15
|
€1,524,950
|
|
Waterford City & County Council
|
14
|
€2,039,292
|
|
Westmeath County Council
|
6
|
€971,500
|
|
Wexford County Council
|
33
|
€3,771,100
|
|
Wicklow County Council
|
18
|
€3,992,475
|
|
Total
|
575
|
€106,719,969
|
In relation to the allocations of funding to individual local authorities under the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan to individual local authorities, the final allocations assigned to each local authority for mortgage and home improvement loans in 2018 are detailed in the below table. These final allocations are reflective of an internal rebalancing exercise carried out by my Department in respect of the approved allocations notified to the local authorities based on estimated drawdowns for 2018 as notified by the authorities.
|
County Councils
|
Final Allocation 2018 (€)
|
|
Carlow
|
5,200,000
|
|
Cavan
|
2,100,000
|
|
Clare
|
4,500,000
|
|
Cork
|
6,000,000
|
|
DL/Rathdown
|
10,020,000
|
|
Donegal
|
2,000,000
|
|
Fingal
|
19,276,000
|
|
Galway
|
3,924,000
|
|
Kerry
|
3,075,000
|
|
Kildare
|
8,000,000
|
|
Kilkenny
|
6,080,000
|
|
Laois
|
5,500,000
|
|
Leitrim
|
500,000
|
|
Longford
|
1,200,000
|
|
Louth
|
4,300,000
|
|
Mayo
|
5,456,036
|
|
Meath
|
9,300,000
|
|
Monaghan
|
5,000,000
|
|
Offaly
|
1,700,000
|
|
Roscommon
|
1,500,000
|
|
Sligo
|
3,375,000
|
|
South Dublin
|
25,000,000
|
|
Tipperary
|
1,978,470
|
|
Westmeath
|
4,576,000
|
|
Wexford
|
7,000,000
|
|
Wicklow
|
4,000,000
|
|
City Councils
|
|
|
Cork
|
1,520,000
|
|
Dublin
|
50,000,000
|
|
Galway
|
3,000,000
|
|
City & County Councils
|
|
|
Limerick
|
2,545,916
|
|
Waterford
|
2,000,000
|
|
TOTAL
|
209,626,422
|
Since its launch in February 2018, the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan has proven to be more successful than was initially anticipated. Discussions are ongoing with the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance with regard to further funding for the scheme, and once these discussions have concluded my Department will be in touch with local authorities regarding their specific allocations for 2019. However, in the meantime the scheme remains open and all local authorities should continue to receive and process applications.
