Written answers

Thursday, 24 February 2022

Department of Finance

European Investment Bank

Photo of Mairead FarrellMairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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228. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of loans drawn down from the European Investment Bank; the date of commencement; the repayment schedule; the interest rate and purposes of each loan in tabular form; and his plans to allocate additional funding for the provision of social housing from the EIB. [10522/22]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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At the outset, the Deputy should note that as Minister for Finance, and a Governor of the European Investment Bank (EIB), I have no role in the negotiation of contracts between the EIB and any borrowers here in Ireland. In addition, in my role as a Governor of the EIB, I have no role in the allocation of funding in Ireland, nor do I have the authority to specify which sector funding should be allocated to. However, I am keen that projects in Ireland are able to access funding, where it is possible, from the EIB, in particular in relation to priority issues including climate and environmental sustainability; innovation and skills; infrastructure; small and medium-sized enterprises; cohesion, and development. In that regard, the EIB has an office in Ireland which assists interested parties in engaging with the EIB, whether it be for advisory or financial support. In addition, my Department facilitates, through an EIB-Ireland Financing Group and relevant sub-groups, engagement between the EIB and interested parties, including other Departments and State Bodies, in relation to these priorities.

The Deputy may be aware that the EIB has provided in the region of EUR 1billion in financial support to Irish projects in recent years. Much of the information which the Deputy is seeking is published on the EIB’s website (www.eib.org/en/projects/index.htm). I understand that elements of the request, including the repayment schedule, and interest rate are commercially sensitive and not available. In 2021 alone, the Deputy will note that Irish projects listed there received EIB funding in excess of EUR 600 million directly from the EIB. This included EUR 65 million loan for a windfarm in County Mayo; EUR 170 million to support deployment of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) fixed very high capacity (VHC) network throughout Ireland, and; EUR 200 million to the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) for a social and affordable housing programme for the next four years. It should also be noted that in 2021 Ireland also benefited from a number of other investments, supported by the European Guarantee Fund (EGF), a crisis support instrument, established by the EIB Group in response to the Covid-19 crisis to support SMEs and Midcaps.

While I am not in a position to disclose ongoing negotiations between the EIB and other Government departments or State bodies, I would note that the EIB has been providing significant support to housing development in Ireland including the EUR 200 million loan I mentioned previously, which was signed at the end of last year. This is in addition to other loans provided for social and affordable housing in 2019, one of which was EUR 200 million to the HFA, and another of which was to the NTMA of EUR 61 million for a PPP Social Housing Programme.

Finally, the Deputy will be aware that the State also supports housing development funding through a number of different State agencies, including: Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI); Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF); Land Development Agency (LDA); Housing Finance Agency (HFA); National Asset Management Agency (NTMA). Each of these State bodies has a mandate to support the funding and development of residential housing. The Housing Finance Agency’s borrowing from EIB for the purpose of supporting social and affordable housing in Ireland referenced above forms part of Government’s housing policy which is overseen by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

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