Mr. Seán O'Neill:

One of the challenges facing the HBFI is that the viability issue becomes more pronounced as one moves further from Dublin. The last thing anyone wants to do is lend money where it cannot be recovered, not least when it is State funds. There is a challenge in that regard. The newly appointed CEO is reaching out to people in the industry and trying to identify the funding gaps and challenges.

She is reaching out to people in the industry. She is trying to figure out where the funding gaps and the challenges are. One of the issues in Dublin is trying to get lending for apartment blocks because builders have to commit a vast amount of capital to build an apartment block compared to a house. It is speculative building, because people simply will not buy them off plans anymore. We saw the concern in the Celtic tiger days when people were left having paid deposits but they never got their apartment finished ultimately. Builders really must have a finished product for the Irish purchaser to come in and buy an apartment. That is one of our big challenges and it is something that maybe we need to look at more.