Fine Gael TD for Kildare South and Chairman of the Parliamentary Party, Martin Heydon, is seeking a national register of applications for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme. Speaking during parliamentary questions to Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy TD, Deputy Heydon raised the issue of people applying to multiple Councils for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme and how that could be addressed.
Deputy Heydon said: “The Rebuilding Ireland home loan is a very good scheme and has proven popular, particularly in Kildare, for those who fall outside the lending requirements for banks and who wish to purchase their own house.
“Within Kildare a funding amount of €15m was initially approved by the Council’s elected members. The Department has sanctioned additional funding giving Kildare County Council the option of an additional €6m in funding for the scheme. There are currently significant waiting lists for those in Kildare awaiting approval for the loan.
“One of the issues contributing to large waiting lists is the ability of applicants to apply to more than one Council and thereby have a place on several waiting lists even though only one drawdown in possible. I am seeking a national register where the Housing Finance Agency could act as an overarching body to prevent this duplication.
In response Minister Murphy said: “The Deputy makes a very good point about the duplications in the system. A person can apply to different local authorities and as a result it can, for a period of time, give an uncertainty around the actual headroom that is left in the local authority in terms of the funding that has been approved or allocated from central government to the local authority.
“One of the things we have discussed with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is new reporting requirements for local authorities whereby they would have to report back each month to the Housing Agency so we can see where duplication might be happening where a loan has been drawn down. A national register is a good idea and is under active consideration at the moment so we can further improve this very desirable low interest mortgage.