Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. The figures, which are shocking, were given in a parliamentary reply. I agree with much of what the Minister of State said, but his reply obviously comes from the departmental officials and is not imaginative. The scheme is worth €500 million, but less than 0.8% of that money has been given out in mortgage loans at a time when people are looking for them. The reply referred to the limit, the misalignment and the fact that people must have savings before they can get a mortgage, but the Central Bank's rules set a higher bar at 10% or 20% than the home choice rules do at 8%. Therefore, one would imagine that if people have a difficulty in saving a deposit, their first port of call would be the home choice loan scheme.

The Minister of State put his finger on the issue when he suggested that the scheme had not been advertised or promoted. I call on him to leave his footprint in the Department by revamping the scheme or getting rid of it altogether. There should not be a false impression that these loans are available. A radical revamp of the home choice loan structure and a marketing programme are required. In 12 months' time, I would like to see several hundred applications having been approved under the scheme.