Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 76: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of persons to date, who have made a full application under the home choice scheme; the number of new build and the number of second hand houses now occupied as a result of the scheme; the cost to date of administering the scheme and if it is intended to continue with the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37433/10]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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As of now, 111 full applications have been received under the Home Choice Loan scheme.

Of these, 17 have been approved, with 4 of these now drawn down. Of the 17 approved applications, 11 were for second hand properties and 4 for new build properties. The remaining two applications have been approved in principle. All 4 of the loans drawn down relate to new build properties.

The total cost to date of administering the scheme is approximately €290,000. These costs include the setting up of the central processing unit (CPU) within the Affordable Homes Partnership (AHP). These costs were met fully from within existing resources within the AHP. It should also be noted that a significant element of the staffing costs 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 standard local authority house purchase loan applications under other schemes such as tenant purchase, affordable housing, shared ownership etc.

The scheme is intended to be a temporary one which will be withdrawn once conditions in credit markets return to normal patterns.