Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To summarise, the Minister's answer to my question is that he does not know, despite the fact that he has been working on the scheme for a year. A circular issued by the Department in August stated that a minimum of 40% of the homes to be delivered would be available at 10% less than the average market cost, though in Dún Laoghaire that would be no guarantee of affordability. In October the Department issued another circular rowing back on this, stating that following discussions with officials and others, the commitment would not be possible. One has to ask why a company as profitable as the company providing the houses in Cherrywood needs any LIHAF funding at all. Even if it does, the Minister designed the programme so it should not just be up to the local authority to negotiate affordability. What is the Department's threshold in terms of numbers of units and price? If, as in the August circular, it is 10% of market value in Dún Laoghaire, it comes nowhere close to being affordable and this would also be the case in many other parts of Dublin. I am concerned that the Minister does not know how he will guarantee affordability and that he has now rowed back on commitments made in the August circular.

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