Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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739. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the total amount of loans outstanding to the Housing Finance Agency in respect of each local authority; the date by which these loans must be repaid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29794/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The total amount of loans outstanding to the Housing Finance Agency in respect of each local authority is set out in the following table. These amounts represent the capital outstanding at 31 December 2014. The original loans advanced typically have a duration of just under 25 years. The weighted average remaining years to maturity for loans outstanding at 31 December 2014 is just under 18 years.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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740. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government in respect of a scheme run by the Housing Finance Agency in the 1980s, whereby persons were provided with loans for house purchase, the number of loans that are still outstanding; and in arrears; the rate of interest that applies to such loans; his plans to apply changes to the way in which the scheme operates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29795/15]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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I assume that the Question refers to income-related loans that were advanced by individual local authorities to individual borrowers between 1982 and May 1986. The Housing Finance Agency (HFA) advanced the associated funds to local authorities. A total of €403m was advanced by local authorities under the income-related loan scheme and 15,571 mortgages were made available to borrowers. The most recent information available refers to amounts at 30 June 2014, at which point 286 of these loans were still outstanding with a corresponding total loan balance of €10.5m. Information on arrears relating to these loans is not available.

Following a review of the income-related loan scheme, the Board of the HFA approved the following initiatives to be implemented with effect from 1 July 2015 with the aim of making these loans more affordable for the borrower and to help secure a pathway to full home ownership. From 1 July 2015, inflation was eliminated on these loans and the variable rate on income-related loans was reduced to bring it in line with the standard variable mortgage rate offered by local authorities.

No new loans have issued under this Scheme since 1986 and there are no plans to alter this position. Individual local authorities administer these loans and deal directly with borrowers. I would advise any local authority borrower who is having difficulty meeting their loan repayments to contact their local authority. To assist local authorities in dealing with borrowers in financial distress, my Department issued revised guidelines for dealing with mortgage arrears within the local authority sector in June 2014. Dealing with Mortgage Arrears – A Guide for Local Authorities is available on my Department’s website by clicking on the following link:

www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,30943,en.pdf.