Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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812. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his views on a proposal from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on ways to alleviate the debt levels in the approved housing bodies sector and to address concerns within the sector, regarding compliance with regulatory obligations and the financial implications of significant levels of debt, which was sent as a sanction request from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in August 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11469/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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One of the recommendations of the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) review in 2023, was to establish a working group to examine the issue of debt in the AHB sector and to recommend solutions. Debt in a company is often expressed as its level of gearing which is a ratio of its debt to equity.

The Debt Levels in the AHB Sector Working Group was established in May 2023 to consider the question of debt levels within the sector. As part of its work, the group engaged consultants Indecon and PWC to undertake analysis around a number of different possible solutions. The work of the group was finalised in Q2 2024, and a submission and recommendations were submitted to Minister O'Brien and subsequently a sanction request was sent to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (DPENDR) in August 2024 for their consideration.

My Department subsequently engaged with DPENDR on the sanction request. In the course of our discussions, DPENDR has indicated that they would like to consider this sanction request in the context of the report of the AHB Strategic Forum. Amongst a number of issues, that Forum is considering the long-term funding of the sector and its structure, and DPENDR considers that there is a clear linkage between the output of the AHB Strategic Forum and the issue of the debt levels in the AHB sector. The report of AHB Strategic Forum is currently being finalised and will be presented to me for my consideration shortly.