Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 November 2016
102. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a list of all persons, representative organisations or institutions he or his Department consulted or met to discuss the help-to-buy scheme announced in budget 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32538/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI assume the Deputy is asking for all persons or organisations that I or my officials consulted with, rather than all those who raised the Help to Buy scheme with me. As the Deputy will appreciate, I met with a range of bodies prior to the Budget, as part of the annual pre Budget submission and meeting process, and many of these bodies would have raised requests for a scheme to assist with home purchases, following from the reference to the introduction of such a scheme on Budget day, as announced in the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, launched on the 19th of July last.
The bodies that were consulted include the Central Bank, the Revenue Commissioners, and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. In addition, discussions were held at a political level. Furthermore, my officials held informal discussions with some of the banks in order to ensure that the final design of the operational aspects of the scheme, would reflect and tie-in with the actual processes employed by financial institutions in the provision of mortgage lending to individuals.
