Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

This is a proposition from the Irish League of Credit Unions that has been with the Minister, Deputy Kelly, since before the budget on 29 September. It proposes to invest in a State-owned financial vehicle which would on-lend to approved housing bodies to fund the development of social housing. The key benefit arising for the credit union movement from this proposition is that it would enable the movement to put a significant portion of the members' funds of €8.5 billion into social housing. If I were the Minister and I had heard that on 29 September, I would have been on to the Irish League of Credit Unions immediately to invite its members to my Department to discuss how we would do this. One billion euro would build nearly 7,000 homes. Seven billion euro would build 45,000 homes in a short period of time if that money were invested immediately. We are supposed to be in a housing crisis. The Minister has called it a humanitarian crisis, yet for over three weeks, and with no announcement in the budget, there has been the possibility that credit unions would fund or in some way assist the Government in regard to social housing.

The credit unions said they got an acknowledgement from the Minister, Deputy Kelly, on 2 October. They sent the proposition to the Minister of State present, Deputy Coffey, on 2 October, who said he would review it and would like to meet with them. It is phenomenal to think that this proposition from the credit union movement, which has the funds - particularly in view of the Minister's statement that this was part of his housing policy, when he said he would be looking for private funding, including from the credit unions - has been sitting on his desk for the past three and a half weeks, and that the credit unions have not even been contacted.

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