Ireland Strategic Investment Fund Investments

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 November 2019

Thursday, 14 November 2019

Questions (49)

Michael McGrath

Question:

49. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the list of projects backed by a company (details supplied), in tabular form; the amount invested by the company in each project; the number of homes planned for each project; the number of homes built in each project; the funding invested to date from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund; the details of a new private funder of the company; the way in which it is being invested from this source; if this is in addition to funding from an investment firm (details supplied) and the ISIF; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47032/19]

Written answers

Minister for Finance

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) has informed me that many of the questions raised by the Deputy are commercial matters relating to Activate Capital, therefore it is not appropriate for me to comment on them as Minister for Finance.

However, the ISIF has committed €500m to Activate Capital, a senior stretch lending platform which will fund residential development projects in Ireland.

Since inception, Activate funding has supported the completion of 757 new homes. The breakdown by year is available in the following table.

Table 1: Activate funded new housing output by year

Year	Number of Houses Funded
YTD 2019	316
2018	346
2017	95
2016	Nil

I am further informed that Activate currently has 23 sites in production; these sites have the capacity to deliver over 3,200 units. Activate, through funding residential development projects, is targeting the construction of 15,000 new homes over its lifetime.

In October 2019, Activate Capital broadened out its funding base with the addition of a large European pension group alongside the existing investor base of ISIF and KKR.