Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 31 May 2016

Committee on Housing and Homelessness

National Treasury Management Agency and Department of Finance

10:30 am

Mr. Conor O'Kelly:

On the first question on student accommodation, I was making a point about private capital in general coming into the sector and that is visible right across the various university campuses. They are seeing that and they are all developing student accommodation plans and investment is coming into that sector. In relation to DCU in particular, that is off-balance sheet. We are talking about student accommodation for 2,000 students. In terms of the infrastructure fund, probably Mr. Eoin Dorgan is better qualified to say what is off-balance sheet and on-balance sheet. Also, there are potential state aid rules to look at. That is where the commercial return comes into play. The market test has to be met in general, that is, if one starts to offer free money or money at rates that are different from the market rate, one will get into trouble in terms of state aid. On the off-balance sheet issue, it is important that private investors and co-investors are coming in at the same time on the same rate. That is generally a key test. The infrastructure fund can be provided at a competitive rate, it could be the lowest rate possible to meet that criteria but it cannot be zero and, probably, it cannot be 1% but I guess it could be 4%. By being more creative about the long-term tenure and the payback period something like the strategic investment fund can take a view, given its remit, that other financial investors might not take.

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