Mr. Andrew McDowell:

To my recollection, the financing agreement with the Housing Finance Agency, HFA, which is the transaction that the Deputy is referring to, required the disbursement of the funds within five years. However, I will revert to the Deputy and confirm the details.

We indicated to the HFA that we were happy to engage in a further transaction. This was the second transaction, and we regard the HFA as a well-established, reputable and professional partner. The constraint that the HFA faces in this type of transaction is that it must be budgeted for. This was a loan to the HFA that was guaranteed by the Minister for Finance, with such a guarantee moving the financing onto the Government's balance sheet. Therefore, it must be consistent with the overall expenditure ceilings under the fiscal rules. That is a natural constraint for the HFA in that it cannot by itself approach us and say that it would like more financing. That financing must be consistent with the overall budget agreed by the Government.

We are exploring other mechanisms with the Irish authorities in terms of off-balance sheet financing of social housing. I hope to see within the near future in Ireland the first public private partnership, PPP, on social housing that we have ever done in Europe. It would allow us to invest more in the social housing sector without adding to the expenditure and fiscal rule pressures on the Government in the near term.

There are mechanisms in other European countries, such as funds whereby a government would establish a fund with some private sector participation that would invest in a mix of private, affordable and social housing. Between the three forms of tenure, it would generate enough cashflow to repay the debt that we would provide. France is an active developer in this regard, with municipal authorities partnering with private sector developers to develop funds and with us providing cheap long-term debt. We have showcased these types of transaction to the Irish authorities. Most recently, we held a housing seminar with the Government approximately three weeks ago. We brought six or seven experienced housing lending officers from across Europe to meet the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, the HFA and some of the local authorities to show what we could do. Through that process, we hope to see more transactions in this regard.