Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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124. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the interest payable on the equity loan under the affordable purchase shared equity scheme will be linked to harmonised indices of consumer prices, HICP; if not, if it will be linked to any other index; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3491/21]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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125. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the initial rate of interest that will be on equity loan repayments under the affordable purchase shared equity scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3492/21]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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136. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department is currently engaging with the Department of Finance, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the banking sector on the issue of the proposed €75 million shared equity loan scheme; the nature, frequency and content of these engagements; if additional funding for the scheme from private banks is being sought; if so, the rates of interest being discussed; and the involvement the banks will have in the administration of the shared equity loan scheme. [3364/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 124, 125 and 136 together.

In December last, the Government approved the priority drafting of the Affordable Housing Bill 2020, which will provide a legislative basis for a number of new affordable housing measures, one of which is the Affordable Purchase Shared Equity Scheme. Once enacted, the Bill will deliver on key affordability commitments in the Programme for Government. To advance this legislation and operationalise the scheme, my Department is working closely with partners in Government, the Housing Agency and is also engaging with representatives of the retail banks.

The detailed design of the scheme is currently ongoing including consideration of the administrative and funding structures as well as any interest rate arrangement that may apply. It is intended that, when finalised, the scheme will be open to new build homes, subject to regional price caps, and targeted at first time buyers.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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126. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to recipients of the pandemic unemployment payment being taken off the local authority social housing list due to their household income being above the threshold due to the fact the payment has brought them above the income limit; if he will engage with the Minister for Social Protection on this matter and request that local authorities do not take a temporary payment such as the pandemic unemployment payment into account and therefore use it to remove workers and families from the social housing list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3539/21]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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131. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if exceptional needs social welfare payments are not taken into account when determining social housing eligibility when the social housing need assessment threshold is carried out; if this means that the pandemic unemployment payment from March to August 2020 is also not taken into account for the same purposes as during that time PUP was deemed to be an exceptional needs payment. [3113/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 126 and 131 together.

Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended.

Under the Household Means Policy (HMP), which applies in all local authorities, net income for social housing assessment is defined as gross household income less income tax, PRSI, Universal Social Charge and Pension-Related Deductions within the meaning of Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009. With the exception of specific payments as outlined in the HMP as being disregarded, all income from social insurance and social assistance payments, allowances and benefits, is assessable.

In relation to the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), Circular 38/2020 regarding the treatment of the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) when assessing and/or reviewing income eligibility for social housing support was issued to local authorities. The Circular advises that the PUP payment should be considered as temporary in the overall context of an applicant household's income.

In the case of a household whose income may be temporarily higher than normal due to receipt of the PUP, and where that payment results in the household finding themselves above the income threshold, the authority, under section 4 of the Household Means Policy, has the discretion to disregard income that is once off, temporary or short term in nature, and which is outside the regular pattern of a person’s annual income. In making a determination to disregard PUP, a local authority should consider whether it may be appropriate to disregard the difference between income immediately prior to receipt of the PUP and current income.

Decisions on the qualification of specific persons for social housing support and the allocation of that support are a matter solely for the local authority concerned.