Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. It is great to have a body that has the capacity to borrow at the very low rate the Housing Finance Agency can, which is very beneficial to the State. The witnesses are saying they can get the money and that it is a question of passing it to the agencies that can spend it. The Housing Finance Agency can then do due diligence on them by local authority or association. What is missing in the equation to fast-track the agency's work? The programme for Government specifically talks about going to the EU to borrow an increased amount. While this is not a matter for the Housing Finance Agency today, the question is whether we can spend it. Why are we not spending it? What are the barriers?

The Housing Finance Agency must get the money back. How can the Housing Finance Agency use the money? One of the major issues is the infrastructure deficit. The programme for Government has allocated €100 million for infrastructure deficits. Would it theoretically be a plan to take, for example, 60 acres of the 200 acres of State-owned land in Gormanstown which has no infrastructure, such as sewerage and water, and install services with a local authority or an approved housing body as a partner? How can we fast-track what the Housing Finance Agency wants to do or is it already happening?