John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Conway. Unfortunately, I have to oppose the amendment he has tabled as local authorities are subject to an annual borrowing cap of €118 million, which is set by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and reserving €300 million, or 20% of the proposed €1.5 billion as is set out for in this legislation, for smaller authorities would exceed this cap and create a misalignment of existing financial controls. Demand from local authorities for HFA lending does not reach the level suggested in 2025 to date, with €39 million being lent to 28 local authorities. This suggests that the proposed reservation would almost certainly go unused, leading to inefficient capital allocation and inadequate availability for approved housing bodies.

The Housing Finance Agency, in and of itself, does not lend to local authorities for social housing as this is grant-funded in full from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The HFA engages regularly with local authorities, both individually and through representative bodies to ensure they are aware of financing opportunities where they arise. Additional mandated quarterly consultations would duplicate existing efforts and add administrative burden, potentially diverting focus from core lending and financial operations requiring annual review and Ministerial approval, introduce additional bureaucracy, which would result in delays to lending, slow down the delivery of homes by other delivery partners, and reduce the HFA’s ability to be responsive to urgent housing needs. Consequently, I have to oppose the amendment.

While understanding the thrust of what the Senator trying to achieve, I think he will see from what I have set out, the challenges of the amendment and what it would mean for the HFA in terms of advancing the required capital to approved housing bodies to do the job it is doing, while also adding an administrative burden that we want to try to reduce and streamline from a Government perspective.