Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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In raising this issue I am not criticising the Housing Finance Agency which does a very important job. The HFA's handling of funds with responsibility and care is crucial to its success. However, these funds need to be accessible. It is important that worthwhile projects are not delayed because of the lengthy HFA application process. I have met many of the large approved housing bodies, representatives of which told me they found the process of applying for funding for social housing projects more difficult and protracted than necessary and that in some cases it had forced them to seek funding from commercial banks.

Currently, we have a major crisis in terms of a shortage of affordable rental housing for low-paid people and those out of work. This has driven up rents and increased homelessness, which in the end is very costly to the public purse. The Government is only now recognising this but is doing its best to put in place money to tackle the crisis. The European Investment Bank has made €150 million available through the HFA for social housing projects. This money is vital to increasing our social housing stock as soon as possible, to stem the tide of tenants into homelessness, to end the static condition in emergency accommodation and to lower rents across the rental market.

The Housing Finance Agency is in place to source funding for social housing projects by approved housing bodies like Focus Ireland, Respond, Simon or the many other excellent groups that are seeking to build homes now. It was set up by the State to help these bodies to fund projects and has done so, but many groups in the absence of schemes like CAS are finding the HFA's application process prohibitive. It has done great work in the past but it needs to reform some practices in order for it to be fit for the challenge today.

This is not risky business. We are talking about providing homes in a time of unrivalled demand and applicants that have proven themselves as diligent and responsible housing providers. Unfortunately 120-page applications and protracted processes have led to some groups going to commercial banks which despite improved regulations in the wake of the economic crisis have proven easier to get credit from albeit they are a little more expensive in terms of interest.

It is in the interest of the Government for the HFA to be lending the EIB funding it has received to tackle the housing crisis. We need the Minister to work with the HFA to look at how commercial banks are lending and to find a middle ground which will be responsible but also accessible.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I am in contact with many of the housing agencies and the difficulties have not been brought to my attention. The Deputy raises a very important issue. The Housing Finance Agency is a public limited company and in that context the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has no function in the lending decisions and practices of that agency.

The main function of the Housing Finance Agency is to advance funds to local authorities to be used by them for any purpose authorised under the Housing Acts and to borrow or raise funds for these purposes. All of the issued share capital of the agency is beneficially owned by the Minister for Finance. The agency operates as a company and is therefore subject to usual accounting disciplines. The legislation under which it was set up enjoins it to at least break even in its operations and it operates without Government subvention.

Until recently, significant levels of capital funding were available to approved housing bodies through capital funding schemes, namely the capital assistance scheme the Deputy mentioned, and the capital loan and subsidy scheme. However, in recent years the approved housing body sector has had to shift from capital-funded programmes of construction and acquisition to more revenue-funded options and this has been a challenging process for the sector. The use of standard leasing agreements and loan finance from both commercial lending institutions and the Housing Finance Agency has allowed the sector to cope with this shift.

The Housing Finance Agency, in accordance with section 17 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2002 is empowered to, and does, provide lending facilities directly to approved housing bodies. Approved housing bodies can apply directly to the Housing Finance Agency for loan finance to buy or build new units to be leased for social housing purposes with lease payments used by the approved housing body to remunerate their borrowings from the Housing Finance Agency.

Each approved housing body wishing to draw funds directly must be deemed a qualifying body on foot of an assessment by the Housing Finance Agency. This is to ensure that the approved housing body is capable of managing all aspects of a social housing scheme from design and construction stage all the way through to rent collection and maintenance over the life of a project. Particular attention is paid in the assessment to financial and governance arrangements. Once an approved housing body has made it through the pre-qualification assessment, applications for lending are made to the Housing Finance Agency on a project-by-project basis and are assessed by the Housing Finance Agency's credit committee.

To date, 11 approved housing bodies have achieved certified borrower status with the Housing Finance Agency. It is anticipated that the remainder of 2015 will see continued growth in the level of lending in this area.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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There seems to be a significant bureaucracy in terms of accessing funds. I did not realise it was so messy until recently. There is no doubt the approved housing bodies are doing great work, but we have a major crisis with housing and homelessness. Some 45 new families join the homeless list every month. The plan was to deliver something like 7,400 units this year, 5,000 of which were to come from the rental market or leasing. The reality is these houses are not available. We can talk about getting 5,000 units as part of a plan, but where will they be found?

We need to ensure that the housing bodies are delivering and that there are no obstacles to them accessing funding. However, there seems to be a bit of an obstacle. There is certainly some money there but accessing it seems to be a big problem. I am asking the Minister of State to look at this to see if it can be improved. She should talk to representatives of the HFA to see how the bureaucratic system in place can be speeded up. People are crying out and hundreds of people are staying in hotels throughout the country and particularly in the Dublin region, which is unacceptable. Any bureaucracy that is put in the way needs to be dealt with.

Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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I draw the attention of the House to the very substantial allocations given yesterday to the local authorities, including €65 million across my constituency, Carlow-Kilkenny. That will address 44% of the local authority housing list. That is one of the biggest allocations I can ever remember. They have also offered the local authorities the flexibility to do that under a lease, buy or build scenario. I expect to see considerable work in that area over the course of this year.

I accept what the Deputy has said and I will discuss it with the Minister to see if housing agencies are experiencing particular difficulties. I am sure the Minister, Deputy Kelly, is in constant contact with the housing agencies. I will certainly speak to him about this and inform the Deputy of any areas of difficulty or pressure they may be experiencing at this time.