Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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123. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if the local infrastructure housing activation fund is a loan to local authorities or a grant payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21197/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The aim of the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) is to relieve critical infrastructural blockages in order to enable the accelerated delivery of housing on key development sites in urban areas with high demand for housing. 

On 28 March 2017, I announced funding for 34 projects under the LIHAF. The cost of these projects is €226.46 million, of which €169.65 million will be funded by the Exchequer, with local authorities funding the remaining €56.81 million. These public infrastructure projects will be key to the delivery of 23,000 housing units over the next four years, with a longer-term projection of up to 70,000 units as the selected sites are fully built out. 

Under the terms of LIHAF, the Exchequer will fund 75% of the cost of the each infrastructure project by way of a grant to the local authority.  Local authorities will be required to sign a grant agreement with my Department which will set out the terms and conditions for the drawdown of the funding.  Local authorities are required to provide matching funding for the remaining 25% of the cost of the infrastructure project, which they can fund from their own resources or by way of loan.