Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In November 2014, my Department submitted potential projects to the Department of Finance in respect of the task force report for the European Fund for Strategic Investment, including the social housing PPP programme. Investment in social housing through the public private partnership, PPP, model is part of a wider plan to accelerate the supply of social housing, and is now reflected in the second pillar of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness.

The National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, is acting as financial adviser to my Department and the relevant local authorities. In that context, a submission has been made through the NDFA to the European Investment Bank, EIB, seeking finance from the European Fund for Strategic Investment to support the provision of some 1,500 social housing units under the social housing PPP programme. The submission, which is being appraised by the EIB, is in respect of a framework loan to provide financing to private sector partners to construct, finance, operate and maintain the housing units concerned.

The EIB is further involved in supporting social housing Ireland through loan finance provided through the Housing Finance Agency, HFA. On 2 March 2017, I announced a new €200 million long-term loan which has been agreed between the EIB and the HFA. The combined package, including matching funding provided by the HFA, is €405 million. The new loan is to support construction of an estimated 1,400 new homes and the refurbishment of more than 700 properties in Dublin and other locations across Ireland. The scope for further investment by the EIB in social housing in Ireland, including through the European Fund for Strategic Investment, is currently being actively explored.

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