Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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210. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the advice he has received from the Department of Finance or elsewhere with regard to the likelihood that the submission his Department made to the European Fund for Strategic Investmentd for funding for the construction of 1,500 social housing units over three years will be successful; and the level of confidence he has that any housing projects will be successful in receiving funding from this source. [4711/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Investment in social housing through the public private partnership or PPP model is part of a wider plan to accelerate the supply of social housing, reflected in the second pillar of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing & Homelessness, launched in July 2016. To enable delivery to commence as quickly as possible, the PPP programme is being rolled-out in three bundles. The first bundle, comprising six PPP sites which are to provide over 500 units, primarily in the greater Dublin area, was announced in October 2015. The second bundle, comprising eight PPP sites which are to provide over 450 units across the country, was announced in June 2016. The identification and selection of sites for the third project bundle is currently underway and is expected to be finalised in early 2017. The PPP programme is being progressed in co-operation with the local authorities in each area.

The National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) is acting as financial advisor to my Department and the relevant local authorities. In that context, a submission has been made through the NDFA to the European Investment Bank in respect of finance from the European Fund for Strategic Investment to support the provision of some 1,500 social housing units under the Social Housing Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme. The submission, which is in respect of a framework loan to provide financing to private sector partners to construct, finance, operate and maintain the housing to be delivered in each bundle, is being appraised by the EIB at present.