Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their insightful briefing. I acknowledge the work they do for the State on public housing. I have three questions. I may start by confusing myself on the first one but it relates to the fact they have informed us of the type and level of funding available to local authorities from the Housing Finance Agency, HFA. Can local authorities avail of a better rate than the AHBs and, if so, does the agency envisage local authorities driving the delivery of cost rental and affordable housing, considering the capital available and the understanding of the local authority needs and demands? I look at the agency's chart and it shows the agency is providing three times the amount of funding to AHBs and local authorities but there may be other funding mechanisms within all that. The question is, and I have two more, whether there is a different rate of interest on the money.

Very quickly, the second question is whether the agencies have received the local authorities' housing delivery action plans. Third, the targets are ambitious and we all know that, but will our guests speak of the challenges we have with the delivery? Do they think we can meet the Housing for All projections that are in place in the short term?