Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The six-month drawdown period for those who have received approval for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan is standard within the industry. I am aware there have been some delays at the processing stage and people wanting the credit committee of the local authority to meet again more quickly to get approvals turned around. The Housing Agency, which is the overseer in the first line for an approval or a decline, operates to very efficient timelines.

The Deputy makes a very good point, however, about the duplications in the system. A person can apply to different local authorities and as a result it can, for a period of time, give an uncertainty around the actual headroom that is left in the local authority in terms of the funding that has been approved or allocated from central government to the local authority. One of the things we have discussed with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is new reporting requirements for local authorities whereby they would have to report back each month to the Housing Agency so we can see where duplication might be happening where a loan has been drawn down. On an enhanced role for the Housing Agency or the Housing Finance Agency and the roles they already play in trying to manage duplications better, a national register is a good idea and is under active consideration at the moment by me in how we can further improve this very desirable low interest mortgage.

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