Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1168. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if applicants for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan who have been refused the authorised mortgage protection insurance can avail of private insurance; and if so, the criteria for approval of such own sourced insurance. [45251/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The local authority mortgage protection insurance (MPI) scheme has applied to all house purchase loans approved by local authorities after 1 July 1986, including the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan introduced on 1 February 2018. Mortgage protection insurance is charged at the rate of 0.555%.

It is obligatory for all local authority borrowers who meet the eligibility criteria to join the scheme, which is a group policy. Altering this condition would have a negative impact on the scheme and increase the cost for all existing borrowers.

A local authority housing loan applicant who is not eligible for the local authority MPI scheme must source a suitable comparable individual MPI policy from the market. The level of coverage/benefits provided under the alternative MPI should be similar to that available under the Local Authority Group MPI scheme.

The final decision on loan approval is a matter for each 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, in order to ensure consistency of treatment for all applicants.