Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The expectation is that the fund will be available to small builders who are struggling. There is a lot of chatter about the funding of the construction sector. The sector which provides residential property is the commercial real estate sector. A figure of 60% is being provided for, with the rest to be provided by way of borrowing.One of the things we saw from the banking inquiry is that the bank cannot take all the risk. The era of the bank providing 100% funding with personal guarantees or the like is over. The banking sector will provide 60%. The other 40% comes from either a person's own funds, equity or from private equity funds. That is the way it works worldwide. That is the way we need to get our construction sector working. There is a substantial cost. The mezzanine funding for this model is 40%. Senator Lawlor referred to rates of up to 14% or 16%, which is rather expensive. We hope this measure will help small builders in the less-attractive areas to build developments of ten units and upwards. Reference was made to the figure of €37.5 million. We do not anticipate there will be many applicants for this.