Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Chair. It is an absolute pleasure to be here to introduce this legislation, the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025. All Stages of this Bill were passed last week in the Dáil. Its purpose is to amend section 10 of the Housing Finance Agency Acts 1981 to 2024. The amendment, through section 1, will increase the statutory borrowing limit, SBL, of the Housing Finance Agency, HFA, from €12 billion to €13.5 billion. Section 2 sets out the Short Title, collective citation and construction.

The mission of the HFA is to facilitate the delivery of social and affordable housing in Ireland and to advance funds to local authorities, approved housing bodies, AHBs, and higher education institutes, HEIs, for this purpose. Since its establishment in 1981 with a borrowing limit of €200 million, the HFA's statutory borrowing limit has increased six times, reflecting the ever-increasing demand on funding for social and affordable housing and highlighting the Government’s support and commitment in its pursuit of meeting the country's housing demands.

The HFA is the main lender to the AHB sector, a sector that provides almost half of all new social and cost-rental homes. The agency continues to interact with local authorities on their financing needs and also has regular engagement with the HEIs and technological universities to support initiatives and funding requirements that aim to increase the supply of student housing. This diligent work by the HFA team clearly shows tangible results and creates a hugely positive impact on the lives of thousands of people across the country.

The Government can also point to strong actions and results, with budget 2026 clearly reinforcing its commitment to boosting housing supply. The total Exchequer funding being made available in the budget for the delivery of housing programmes is €7.21 billion, comprising €5.19 billion in capital funding and €2.02 billion in current funding. An increased capital allocation, of €2.9 billion, has been provided to support local authorities and AHBs in the delivery of 10,200 newly built social homes. Additionally, €1.2 billion has been committed to the affordable-purchase and cost-rental schemes, which deliver long-term, secure housing below market rates for thousands of individuals and families. This will support the delivery of 7,500 affordable-purchase and cost-rental homes in 2026.

Looking to 2030 and beyond, this Government will set out a clear pathway for housing supports and delivery. We now have the main body of the national development plan and the national planning framework in place. The publication of the new housing plan is imminent, and this will underpin the role that will be required on the part of the HFA to support the delivery of housing targets. The Bill before the House today is important and its progress will enable the HFA to continue to meet its increasing lending requirements during this transitionary period, which will result in the delivery of more social and cost-rental homes over the coming months. The HFA has advised that, based on its recent projections, the current €12 billion statutory borrowing limit will be reached at its 6 November credit committee, at which point no additional lending can be approved. This is as a consequence of the Government's approval of additional funding for social and cost-rental housing in July this year, following which the HFA's flow of borrowing applications increased. It is imperative that the current borrowing limit is increased without delay.

On 17 September the Government approved an increase to the statutory borrowing limit of the Housing Finance Agency from €12 billion to €13.5 billion, priority drafting of the Bill and seeking a waiver of pre-legislative scrutiny of the proposed Bill given the urgency associated with the proposal. On 23 September the Government subsequently approved the publication of the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025 and authorised the Minister, Deputy Browne, to arrange for the presentation of the Bill to Dáil Éireann and to have it circulated to Deputies at the earliest opportunity. Officials in the Department met with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage on Monday, 6 October and following this engagement a pre-legislative scrutiny waiver was granted.

As the role of the HFA continues to be vital in supporting the Government's ambitious housing delivery plans to 2030 and beyond, it should be noted that the proposed statutory borrowing limit increase from €12 billion to €13.5 billion should be seen as an interim measure. The increase to €13.5 billion at this time will provide sufficient headroom for the HFA to continue lending until mid-2026 and will enable the delivery of over 5,000 new social and cost-rental homes in the coming years. By mid-2026, the HFA will have had the time to consider the relevant aspects of the national development plan and the new national housing plan, enabling it to develop its new corporate plan. The new corporate plan will include informed forecasts for its future borrowing requirements, factoring in delivery partner and scheme-specific funding requirements over the period of the national housing plan.

There are thousands of people who, because of the financing made available by the HFA, will have a safe and secure roof over their heads, living in supportive mixed tenure communities or modern student accommodation. By increasing the statutory borrowing limit at this time, the HFA can continue to lend to support the delivery of more social and cost-rental homes throughout the country without interruption. Should the Bill pass through these Houses, it is anticipated that it will be signed into law by the end of this month, in advance of the HFA's 6 November credit committee, thereby ensuring the continued smooth lending capacity of the Housing Finance Agency. I look forward to the contributions from Senators in discussing and debating this Bill today and I commend the Bill to the House.