Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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643. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount borrowed from the Housing Finance Agency in respect of the continuation of the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9408/19]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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644. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount granted to each local authority for 2019 in respect of the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme in tabular form; the number and names of the local authorities that exhausted funds under the scheme in 2018; the number of local authorities that made applications for further funding for the scheme; the number of local authorities that did not participate or did not grant funds under the scheme in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9493/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 643 and 644 together.

The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan scheme was launched on 01 February 2018 to replace the existing House Purchase and the Home Choice Loan schemes.

The HFA borrowed €200 million to lend to local authorities to fund the scheme. When the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan was initially launched, it was estimated that the drawdown of loans under the scheme would be approximately €200 million over three years; however, the scheme has proven to be more successful than initially anticipated. As a result, to date, a number of local authorities have issued loans to a level which has used up their approved allocations for the scheme. These are Fingal County Council, Kildare County Council, Meath County Council, Tipperary County Council and Waterford City & County Council.

Ten local authorities sought additional allocations for the level of funding they could approve in 2018. Each of the 31 Local Authorities are participating in the scheme with each having approved applications under the scheme.

In relation to allocations for 2019, discussions are ongoing with the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance with regard to seeking further funding for the scheme. When these discussions are concluded, I will be in a position to make a statement on the matter.