Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Investment Commitments to SME Sector: National Treasury Management Agency

2:35 pm

Mr. Eugene O'Callaghan:

On the question around projects with social-type benefits, ultimately if any proposition can be constructed on the basis of being a commercial investment, where money is disbursed and we can get money back over time and there is an appropriate rate of return for that, we can consider it. We have had one or two preliminary conversations in regard to the social housing area. It is not necessarily an easy nut to crack but there is no reason, if a project is framed as a commercial investment, that we cannot look at it.

It is not necessarily an easy nut to crack, to be honest, but we would be happy to look at it if it can be framed as a commercial investment.