PJ Murphy (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for the detailed and concise way he has laid out the Bill to us. As Fine Gael spokesperson on housing in the Seanad, I must say I am fully supportive of the Bill. Currently, a cap of €12 billion on borrowing is applicable to the Housing Finance Agency. What we have here is a proposal to increase this by €1.5 billion to €13.5 billion. If we do not make this increase imminently, it is envisaged that the agency's statutory borrowing limit will be reached by the first week of November. This funding source provides advance funds to local authorities and approved housing bodies for the delivery of housing for the people in our society who are most in need of housing. Critically, this funding source also provides essential funding to the higher education sector for the development of student accommodation. Higher education institutions currently require 50% in grant funding in order to make the development of student accommodation viable.We all know that the provision of student accommodation is the quickest, most effective and efficient way to take pressure off the private home rental market in our university cities. However, technological universities cannot currently borrow from this source for student accommodation due to their specific borrowing frameworks. I urge the Minister of State to ensure that this anomaly is rectified as a matter of urgency.

It is important to note that the HFA is a self-financing body and the cost of this increase is not being met by the Exchequer. On behalf of the Fine Gael group, I express my support for this Bill.