Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister of State tell us what the word "very" means in the context of his reply? Perhaps he has some inside knowledge, but he is not in a position to share it with the House. Looking at the last paragraph of his reply, the Minister of Stated remarked: "In that regard, the Minister and his officials are finalising the assessment, with a view to announcing a further tranche of funding very soon". Does that mean that a decision has been made in principle to announce an additional tranche of funding? My reading of that sentence is that the process is being undertaken with a view to announcing additional funding. Will the Minister of State clarify if that is the case? If it is the case, it will reassure people. Thousands of people who have either applied for or are interested in applying for the scheme may have been discouraged from doing so because of the publicity which suggests the scheme will run out of money very soon. We know that €140 million of the €200 million allocated was drawn down by May. We have not received data since. We also know that more than 2,000 applications have been approved, but many of the applicants have not drawn down funding. If all of the approved applications are called in by the borrowers, the money will not be available. Will the Minister of State provide clarity on the timeline which he described as "very soon"? Will he also reassure the House and applicants, including intending applicants, that every local authority continues to operate the scheme in full? I am referring to every local authority accepting applications, processing them in conjunction with the HFA, approving them and making funding available to those who have loans approved. I ask the question because it seems that the entire process that was slow to begin with has slowed down further. That raises concerns that the slowdown has occurred because the budget and cash flow are being managed.

Perhaps the Minister could provide clarity.

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