Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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151. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if Sligo County Council applied for or received any funding under the €600 million scheme formerly available to allow local authorities to pay off loans on land bought for social and affordable housing but which were not proceeded with. [3322/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Land Aggregation Scheme (LAGS) was introduced in 2010 as part of revised arrangements for the funding of land for social housing purposes.

An estimated total loan value of €162m was approved for inclusion in the Scheme in respect of 73 sites in nineteen local authority areas. The figure of €162m includes €111m in respect of loans which were fully redeemed by local authorities with funding recouped from my Department, under the original terms of the Scheme. The remaining €51m is in the form of annuity loans with the Housing Finance Agency (HFA), for which local authorities are making repayments to the HFA and recoup ing these payments from my Department.

In 2013 as a consequence of continuing pressure on Exchequer resources, and following a review of the scheme carried out in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, it became evident that further expenditure on LAGS, in terms of accepting new applications into the scheme, was no longer a sustainable option. The review concluded with the issuance of Circular 35/2013 on 11 December, 2013, notifying Local Authorities of the discontinuance of the Scheme in respect of new applications.

Prior to the discontinuation of the Scheme, three loans were submitted by Sligo County Council for sites at Ballintogher, Lisnalurg and Tubbercurry for incl usion in the Scheme; all of these were fully assessed and accepted into the scheme and have since been fully redeemed. No other Sligo County Council applications were under consideration at the point of the Scheme’s discontinuance.

Two applications for inclusion into the Scheme from Sligo Borough Council in respect of sites at Finisklin and Robbers Lane Magherboy were, however, still under consideration when Circular 35/2013 was issued and these and other applications which were under consideration and not yet finalised no longer qualify for acceptance.

An application was also received from Sligo Borough Council to have loans for a site at Ballinode included in the Scheme. These loans were approved under Circular 24/2012 for inclusion in the revised Scheme. A condition of the recoupment process provides that only when the land has been transferred to Housing Sustainable Communities Ltd. (HSC Ltd.) can the housing authority apply to have the annuity payment recouped. To date the lands at Ballinode have not been transferred and Sligo Borough Council has been advised of the relevant requirements in respect of land transfer and the recoupment process.

The Department continues to engage with the Housing Finance Agency and the local government sector in relation to the management of the local authority loan book generally . Local authorities are advised to consult with the Housing Finance Agency directly on the management of loans relating to lands not accepted into the Land Aggregation Scheme.