Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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86. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans to ensure that Meath County Council has sufficient funding to approve applications for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51856/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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When the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan scheme was initially being developed, it was estimated that the drawdown of loans would be approximately €200 million over three years. However, this loan product has proved to be more successful than initially anticipated. In the context of the scheme’s success my Department engaged with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance with regard to the allocation for 2019.

I engaged early as I said I would. While discussions commenced in October 2018 on additional funding, the first tranche of €200m was only fully drawn down in August of this year. My Department wrote to all 31 local authorities on 15 August 2019 sanctioning an additional €363 million in funding for the Loan. This brings total funding for the Loan to €563 million for 2018 and 2019 combined, allowing the allocation for Meath to be increased to €35.8m for the same period.