Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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14. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to set out the amount which has been drawn down from the €300 million Housing Finance Agency fund; the approved housing bodies and local authorities which have drawn down moneys from the fund; the purposes of each drawdown, that is, whether for social housing build or upgrading social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28423/16]

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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What is situation with the €300 million in the Housing Finance Agency fund? Is it being used? If so, who by? What is it being used for? To date, what percentage of that money has been drawn down for social housing?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I am glad Deputy Collins has asked me this question because it gives me an opportunity to clarify the position. In 2015, a €300 million fund for investment in social housing was put in place by the Housing Finance Agency with the support of the Government. A sum of €150 million of this fund was provided by the European Investment Bank. This funding is available to approved housing bodies for the delivery and upgrade of social housing. A 25-year fixed rate of 3.25% is charged.

To date, 29 individual projects totalling €233 million have been approved for support from the fund. The funding is being provided to seven AHBs to develop a total of 964 new homes and for retrofitting and upgrading projects in respect of an additional 550 homes. The AHBs concerned include Clúid Housing Association, Oaklee House Trust, Túath Housing Association, The Iveagh Trust, Co-Operative Housing Ireland, Focus Housing Association and Respond Housing Association. I have become familiar with all of these organisations and they are all doing a great job.

Of the €300 million in the fund, €34 million has been drawn down to date. Given the nature of the projects the majority of the drawdown will occur in 2017. It is expected that the fund will be fully allocated for specific projects by the end of this year.

Given the success of this fund, initial discussions have commenced with the European Investment Bank with a view to establishing another fund. This would incorporate a €200 million contribution from the European Investment Bank and would be match-funded by the Government. This fund would be aimed at providing loans to both AHBs and local authorities to support the provision of social housing.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for the reply. Is the Minister saying that €34 million has been drawn down to date? I understood a figure of €233 million had been drawn down. Will the Minister clarify the position?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There is a difference between what has been committed and what has actually been drawn down. We only draw down the funding when it is actually spent. We believe all this funding will be committed and allocated by the end of the year. What has actually been drawn down, that is, spent so far, is €34 million. However, to date, 29 individual projects totalling €233 million have been approved for support by the fund. In other words, they have effectively got approval to move ahead. Once they move ahead, the money will be drawn down. By and large, nearly all of that money will be drawn down next year.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
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Does the Minister expect to apply for the other tranche from the European Investment Bank when that money is drawn down, has been committed or the 29 projects have received consent to go ahead? The Minister has suggested the timeline for this is the end of next year. Does the Minister envisage that by 2018 there will be another drawdown from the European Investment Bank of €200 million?

Can the Government draw down more from the European Investment Bank?

Other European countries have drawn down a lot more from the European Investment Bank that could be put into supporting the work being done. It is positive that the money is being drawn down by those bodies and local authorities. It would be part of what is needed but does not take away from the emergency on our hands and more people will face homelessness. Next April the two-year cap on rent will be up. Will we immediately bring in another two-year cap because when that cap is lifted we will see many more homeless people on the streets?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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We will have a new rental strategy in place by the end of the year. There will I hope plenty of consultation on that with the committee and other parties before we finalise it. Whatever we do we need a fairly comprehensive and more progressive approach to a more stable rental market.

The Housing Finance Agency is trying to get as much money into housing as possible. Our problem is not accessing money, it is how to spend it in compliance with the rules. We can access money through the European Investment Bank and raise it as a State by issuing bonds for virtually nothing. However, spending that money is restricted under the spending rules. People are familiar with that because there have been endless debates in this House about those rules. We need to come up with new financing models that can allow us spend as much money as we can in terms of off-balance sheet vehicles to do that and the Irish Strategic Investment Fund is working on funds and the Housing Finance Agency is also considering what it can do. In the meantime the European Investment Bank is happy to invest significant additional sums in social housing because that meets all of its guidelines and parameters. This is not a grant, it is a loan but over a long period and it is relatively cost-effective. It supports broader European policy around social housing and dealing with the housing crisis in Ireland. The money will be drawn down. The real challenge for us is to find ways to spend more money beyond what we are allowed to spend, even though we are spending a significant portion of what we are allowed to spend overall on housing.