Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Quinlan and his team for all of the work they have done on this Bill. It is most important legislation and I am delighted we have an opportunity to scrutinise it.

A major chunk of affordable housing will obviously come from the new builds that will be delivered by the local authorities, the LDA and the approved housing bodies, AHBs. That is most welcome. I am fully supportive of the commitment to a new housing plan this summer. I appreciate that the national development plan has to be reviewed and that takes a bit of time, but the new housing plan is important. I ask Mr. Quinlan to provide us with an update on how it is progressing.

In respect of the serviced sites fund, from the numbers I have seen, there is funding for more than 6,000 units, at least in the initial stage. The local infrastructure fund is also key. It is very important for unlocking land and for the building of affordable homes. Will Mr. Quinlan give the committee an indication of the number of units that can potentially be funded through the local infrastructure fund? In respect of the cost rental scheme, I know 400 units will be provided. The affordable rental scheme will make affordable rental an option for the first time in the history of the State. The three AHBs have been announced. Will there be a second round of announcements for cost rental later this year? While the scheme is very welcome, we would like to see it scaled up. What are the Department's plans in that regard?

I apologise for not raising the purchase of affordable housing under Part V earlier. I am going backwards. Affordable housing purchase under Part V was abolished by a former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, in 2011.

What is the Department's thinking on reinstating that as an option?

On the shared equity scheme, I understand that regulations have to set the eligibility criteria. It is my understanding that those eligible will be people who do not qualify for social housing because their income is marginally above the social housing income thresholds. Can Mr. Quinlan confirm that? Will having a local connection be part of the regulations?

On the issue of repayments, having spoken to people in Dublin about this, some of them estimate they could potentially save €11,000 per year. If people can make those savings, can they repay the equity within the first five years without incurring a penalty?