Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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12. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will apply for funds from the Ireland strategic investment fund to invest in the construction of thousands of social, affordable and local authority homes [25440/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014, which is currently before Dáil Éireann, proposes the reorientation of the National Pensions Reserve Fund into the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), with a mandate to support economic growth and help foster employment in this country.

The Bill provides that the Agency will monitor and keep under review an investment strategy for the Fund. In determining and reviewing the investment strategy, the Agency will consult with and have regard to the views of the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, who may consult other Ministers.

In this context, and to the extent that there are financing gaps in the construction of social, affordable and local authority homes which can be filled on a commercial basis, it will be open to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, the legislation for which will be enacted over the coming months, to consider addressing such gaps subject to its overall investment mandate. The ISIF may have a role to play as long as a commercial investment is structured that supports economic growth and employment in Ireland. The investment must be structured in a way that does not result in it being classified as expenditure under government accounting rules otherwise there would need to be compensating expenditure cuts made elsewhere. 

I might add that the Government's Construction Strategy, published on 14 May, aims to support a return to a sustainable and properly functioning property and construction sector as an essential part of our national economic recovery. As stated in the Strategy, ensuring every citizen has access to suitable housing is a key policy goal of Government.

The Government will continue to prioritise the delivery of good quality social housing, including the return to mainstream local authority housing construction this year; enhancing the role of the not-for-profit sector in the provision of social homes; and continuing to work with NAMA, the Local Authorities, and approved housing bodies to maximise delivery of units owned by NAMA or its debtors for social housing. We will identify the best ways to deliver social housing for the years ahead through the development of a comprehensive strategy for Social Housing, setting out a vision for the sector.

- It is estimated that in the region of 5,000 new Social Housing units will be provided in 2014 through leasing and existing capital programmes. This includes completion of mortgage-to-rent arrangements; the continued transfer of units owned by NAMA or its debtors; completion of existing building and acquisition programmes; and transfers under the Rental Accommodation Scheme.

- Budget 2014 contained innovative housing measures, and announced an additional €30m investment in local authority housing. This €30m investment is expected to provide a substantial number of new and refurbished homes for people on housing waiting lists. Approximately half of this investment will enable the construction of new infill developments in areas with the highest demand for social housing.

- In March, the Minister for Housing and Planning launched a two year €68m local authority home building initiative, which will build some 449 new social homes for families in need of housing. This investment represents the first return to new mainstream local authority house building since the beginning of the financial crisis.

- Details of a €15m fund to bring vacant local authority houses back into use were announced in April. This fund will bring 952 vacant local authority units back into beneficial use, providing high quality homes for people in need of housing, while also providing employment through labour intensive activity.

- This year will also see the completion of a three year €100m investment that will provide 800 units for older people, people with a disability or people without a home.

- We are currently in the process of rolling out a new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) which, in addition to helping to remove barriers to employment for recipients, will contribute to the creation of a higher quality private rented sector through improved standards.

- The contribution of the not-for-profit sector in the provision of social housing will be facilitated by introducing legislation to regulate the sector. Regulation will enhance the ability of approved housing bodies to attract private finance.

- The Construction Strategy states that later this year we will publish a Social Housing Strategy setting out a vision for the sector, and we will introduce legislation to regulate the Approved Housing Body sector.

- The Strategy includes measures to ensure that financing is available to support necessary and viable development. In particular, a High Level Working Group, led by the department of Finance will be established to examine the availability of both banking and non-banking sources of finance.