John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 168: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will consider allowing the purchase of local authority houses by those tenants qualified to do so but who are unable to raise a loan by way of direct weekly or monthly payments paid to local authorities as was the case with the old purchase scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26928/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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The practice whereby tenant purchasers paid the purchase price for their dwellings to housing authorities by instalments was replaced in 1993 by the current practice of purchasers paying the full amount of the purchase price at the point of sale, supported as required by mortgage finance. I have no proposals to revert to the old system as a person who cannot obtain a mortgage in respect of the purchase price from either a commercial lender or a housing authority is unlikely to have sufficient means to meet the full costs of home ownership, including maintaining and insuring the property, by any other method.