Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 143: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of people to date who have made a full application under the home choice scheme; the cost to date of administering this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35823/09]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Over 1,400 prospective purchasers have formally registered interest on the dedicated Home Choice loan website and, to date, 38 applications have been made, with 3 approvals in principle issued.

The scheme is operated by four local authorities acting on a regional basis, with administrative support from a Central Processing Unit in the Affordable Homes Partnership. Total costs of some €280,000 have been incurred on establishing the scheme to date and these have been met from within existing resources. The projected costs for the remainder of 2009 and 2010 are €10,000 and €20,000, respectively. However, it should be noted that a significant element of the total cost was incurred in the development of the loan processing model which applies to the Home Choice Loan but which has also now been used in the development of revised systems for processing and credit checking of normal local authority house purchase loan applications under other schemes such as affordable housing and shared ownership. In addition, it is expected that ongoing administrative costs will be met from normal lending margins.