Mr. David Walsh:

The approved housing bodies have been examining whether they could draw on wider sources of funding, not just from the State and the Housing Finance Agency, to fund not only housing but other activities they may have on affordable housing or non-social housing elements. In recent years, they have been looking to see whether there are funds they could draw on, either through European banks or private Irish banks. In the middle of this process, in December the CSO concluded its analysis of the approved housing bodies and made a decision that all current activity and lending undertaken by approved housing bodies in Ireland is on the general government balance sheet.