Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am a bit late to welcome the teachers and students from Claremorris. I wish to raise an issue this morning with the Croí Cónaithe scheme through which a person can get a grant of €50,000 to do up an old or derelict house and get a €20,000 top-up. There is an anomaly in that scheme in that if somebody is applying for a loan, there is a stand-off at the moment with the local authorities that are implementing the scheme and grant on behalf of the Government and the financial institutions. It is a shame that things are being held up. At least two people whose applications are being held up have contacted me. They try to get contractors or workers and tradespeople in place to carry out the work and do not know where they are going. The problem with the scheme is that the Department and banking institutions have not reached agreement on how it will operate. Seemingly, there is a claw back on the grant if a person sells the property before ten years have passed. It is maybe 50% after five years and a percentage every year after that until the ten-year period is up. The Minister will have to intervene in this regard. I have no doubt that the Minister does not know anything about what is happening with this aspect of the scheme. He brought forward the scheme in good faith, and it is a great scheme. It should be a priority for local authorities and the Department to reach agreement with the financial institutions because there are hard-pressed people out there.

I would have no problem at all with people selling the house. After all, when the house has been done up and completed, it does not matter whether it is sold on and somebody else lives in it. I would not have any great problem with that. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister to intervene in this with the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, the Department and the local authorities that are implementing this.