Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Dr. Michelle Norris, Mr. Brian O'Gorman from Clúid and Mr. Cian Ó Lionáin from the Department for attending. Regarding the Housing Finance Agency, HFA, Dr. Norris or Mr. O'Leary might outline the process for handling loans for individuals through the local authorities because how it works can be a bit of a mystery. A person applies for a loan, having been refused by a financial institution, and the application goes to the local authority, but where does it go from there? How is it processed? What happens to it at the HFA level and back at local authority level? I would like to know also about the lending guidelines for individuals because while I welcome that we are no longer throwing money around like confetti, the pendulum seems to have swung in the opposite direction in that getting money is like trying to get blood out of a stone. I am not necessarily saying that about the witnesses' organisation because some people have been helped by it and have got loans through the local authorities recently, which certainly has made a difference to them, but as a State we do not seem to do anything by half. We were throwing out to people multiples of what they were earning six, seven or eight years ago, and now the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction in that there is a stranglehold on money.

In terms of funding, have any approaches been made to the European Investment Bank because it has shown a willingness to lend money, particularly for projects that can generate a stream of revenue, such as housing? We have raised this issue with the EIB in the past and I wonder if the witnesses have had discussions with it on that.

There is a group of people who are not entitled to apply for local housing. If someone in the county in which I live has a gross income in excess of €25,5000 - if they have children there is a small amount after that - they are not entitled to apply for a local authority house. There are many people in the €25,5000 to €40,000 income bracket who are paying €700 or €800 a month in rent, one of whom I dealt with last Friday who, believe it or not, could get a loan to buy a perfectly good house for €42,000 or €48,000 the repayments on which would be only a fraction of what they are paying in rent. However, they cannot get the loan despite the fact they are in full-time employment. In the case of which I am aware, the two people are in full-time employment. Has the Housing Finance Agency discussed that with local authorities or is there a plan to try to do anything for that group because the prospects for those people are such that they will remain renting from now until kingdom come? The banks are even tighter than the witnesses' organisation when it comes to the money they give out. There is a cohort of people in the €25,000 to €50,000 income bracket who are caught in that they cannot access money from banks or from the HFA. Can I ask the question on Clúid now, Chairman?