Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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1551. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if discretion can be shown in the application of the terms and conditions of the Rebuilding Ireland home loan and county council mortgages for families who may have got homes repossessed in the past; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19109/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Applicants for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan must be of good credit standing and have a satisfactory credit record. The Housing Agency provides a central credit assessment service to local authorities and credit checks are undertaken as part of the credit assessment process. The final decision on loan approval is a matter for the relevant local authority and its credit committee on a case-by-case basis.

Decisions on all housing loan applications must be made in accordance with the statutory credit policy that underpins the scheme and have regard to the recommendation of the Housing Agency, in order to ensure prudence and consistency in approaches in the best interests of both borrowers and the lending local authorities.

As a requirement of the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan applicants must be first time buyers (with the exception in certain instances where the applicant is separated or divorced). This is to ensure the effective targeting of limited resources, and I have no plans to amend this requirement.