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

I thank the Senator for his contribution and will run through them very quickly. I had the pleasure of visiting Waterford with him and seeing the work being done by Waterford City and County Council with the repair and lease scheme. It is an exemplar and we will set targets for our local authorities. It is a great way of being able to bring in unused older buildings. I visited some with the Senator that were former commercial buildings turned into use in great parts of Waterford. I want others to do it and in speaking to other local authorities, I have referred to the work being done in Waterford and Limerick city.

There is an option for the future with cost rental. I met the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Heather Humphreys, and there are other ways we may be able to bring vacant homes back to use for potential first-time buyers. It is something we must look at.

The Senator asked if the cost-rental model would be opened to parties outside of approved housing bodies. I can see that happening. It will happen but, in the first instance, the AHBs will have to prove the concept. The LDA will do a significant amount of cost rental homes. Shanganagh is the first development. I see a role for outside funds in this as well, as we have seen in Scandinavia and Germany. There is definitely an opportunity, although we must build this form of housing tenure. People have talked about it for long enough and I am thankful this Government will be in a position to deliver it and see people in real cost rental homes.

Regulations are being drafted on shared equity and affordable housing schemes and the first national cost rental scheme.

I absolutely take the Senator's point that people who are divorced or separated legally, and have no stake in any property right now, should be able to access the scheme. Those who may have come through the insolvency process and do not own anything should also be allowed access. There will be an element where one would have to access his or her own mortgage for a sizeable portion of it. That would be an issue for those individual lenders.

I mentioned at the Estimates meeting just before this that I am working to improve the Rebuilding Ireland home loan, which is a very good long-term fixed interest mortgage product of 20 to 25 years. Work is ongoing at the moment on how we can make that loan more attractive and make sure more people access it. There has been a lot happening in this whole affordability and public housing space. I thank the Senator for his work on this. It is much appreciated.