Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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142. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the oversight that occurs of voluntary housing bodies in relation to their financing; and his views on whether it is appropriate that a voluntary housing body would undertake commercial loans and expenditure from its capital budget to purchase and refurbish offices when it already has offices which remain empty. [49902/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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As part of the process of good governance, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) have to ensure that they are compliant with a number of statutory requirements including annual reporting to the Companies Registration Office and compliance with the terms and conditions of capital funding schemes and leasing schemes operated by my Department. My Department is currently in consultation with the AHB sector regarding the development of a regulatory framework to support the expanded role for the sector as envisaged in the Government's 2011 Housing Policy Statement. This framework will provide support and assurance both to the sector itself and to its external partners that it is well regulated. It will safeguard the investment that has been made in the sector and encourage future investment.

A landmark first step in this regard was the publication on 15 July 2013 of Building for the Future, a voluntary regulation code for the sector that is available on my Department's website at The voluntary regulation code sets out key governance, management and financial principles that apply to approved housing bodies. Organisations signing up to the code must sign a Charter of Commitments relevant to their scale and development plans. My Department is also working in partnership with the sector to develop a specific additional financial chapter to be appended to the code that will, inter alia, set out key financial management rules and principles.