Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with the questions in reverse order if that is okay. The issue of staged payments has been raised a good deal by Deputies and Senators over the past couple of months. There is no doubt that the measure has been very successful. It has been transformative from a heritage perspective and it brings many important buildings back into use, with families living in them. That is what we want to achieve.

With regard to the staged payments, applicants can apply for the local authority home loan and use this for the front-loading of the payment while waiting. The Department has been engaging positively with Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. Some banks do have products that exist for bridging finance for the grants. That might offer some comfort. Staged payments would be very tricky and difficult to implement or administer, as the Senator can appreciate.