Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On HAP, the figures for this year indicate that 4,506 homes were made available through construction, voids coming back or acquisition or leasing, while 14,275 were made available through HAP. The overreliance on the private rental sector remains a serious concern for me. I understand that we have to keep those tenancies going and that is why we agreed to the additional funding in the budget, but it is not a long-term housing solution for families.

The Rebuilding Ireland affordable loan scheme is a good model and product. I urge the Minister to speed up the review. I have submitted evidence from across the country regarding greatly differing criteria being used for underwriting, particularly in regard to the financial side and whether overtime and bonuses are taken into account as income, for example. The process must be streamlined. I am aware it is a new scheme, so I will not challenge the Minister on the figures. I am glad that it is increasing. It is a good product. Having worked in financial services and being very familiar with mortgages, I consider the refusal rate of 50% to be very high. The figure for invalidated or incomplete applications should be separated from that for applications refused on a financial underwriting basis.

Will the €2 million discretionary cap for social house building by local authorities, which was raised to €6 million in the budget on the insistence of Fianna Fáil in an effort to give more autonomy to local authorities, come into force on 1 January? Has the Department been in contact with local authorities to advise them of that? One of the reasons Fianna Fáil sought that measure was to try to move away from the 59 week process as much as possible and to allow local authorities to build developments of 30 to 40 units through a one-stage process. It has been broadly welcomed by several of the chief executives to whom I have spoken on the matter. Will it be ready to go from 1 January?

I did not address credit union funds in my first round of questioning. I have raised the issue several times with the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy English, in priority questions in the Dáil. The credit unions have a first tranche of €750 million to invest in social and-or affordable housing. It has been approved by the Central Bank as a vehicle for investment since 1 February 2018 but the special purpose vehicle, SPV, has not been established. The answer provided to me by the Minister of State, Deputy English, some weeks ago in the Dáil was incorrect. I have since gone back to the credit union sector, which confirmed that the SPV model has not been set up and that it is not investing in social or affordable housing. This is a significant opportunity to utilise new funds in that sector to deliver homes. There is nothing better in terms of credit union investment than investing in homes in their local communities. What is happening in that regard? Does the Department of Finance not want the scheme to go ahead? When will the SPV be set up such that credit unions can invest in social and affordable housing?