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

I have questions on each of the three schemes. The first is on the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme. I have listened very carefully to what the Minister has said. Some local authorities currently are not accepting or processing new applications. I accept the circular has been issued, but it might be useful if the Department contacted local authorities to ascertain which are and which are not because there is considerable confusion. My local authority, South Dublin County Council, currently is not accepting new applications.

With respect to the affordable home purchase scheme, some recent newspaper coverage suggested that three serviced sites fund projects in Dublin could have sale prices of between €116,000 and €233,000 for those developments. That would be good news if that is the case. Will the Minister confirm if that is his understanding?

I again express concern over the entry level rents for the cost rental pilot in Enniskerry Road in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council area. To cover €1,200 a month would require a net income of €4,000 a month for it to be genuinely affordable under, for example, the criteria the ESRI uses of 30% of net disposable income. Will the Minister look at that again to see if that entry-level rent can be reduced to a genuinely affordable level?

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