Current Status of Home Building Finance Ireland

QUESTION


* To ask the Minister for Finance the status of the establishment of Home Building Finance Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

- Darragh O'Brien T.D.

For WRITTEN answer on Tuesday, 29 May, 2018.

* To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated number of NAMA staff that will transfer into Home Building Finance Ireland; the date on which they will transfer; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

- Darragh O'Brien T.D.

For WRITTEN answer on Tuesday, 29 May, 2018.

* To ask the Minister for Finance the status of the setting up of Home Building Finance Ireland; when he expects this to be delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

- Micheál Martin T.D.

For WRITTEN answer on Tuesday, 29 May, 2018.


REPLY

As announced in my Budget speech on 10 October 2017, Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) is to be established to provide funding on market terms to viable residential development projects whose owners are experiencing difficulty in obtaining debt funding.  Up to €750 million of ISIF funds will be allocated to HBFI to provide funding on market terms and the fund is estimated to have capacity to finance about 6,000 homes in the coming years.
The establishment of HBFI is a key priority for Government and the drafting of legislation is progressing as quickly as possible. Officials in the Department of Finance and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) are currently finalising the legal text of the HBFI Bill and I intend to publish the draft legislation in the coming weeks. 
In parallel to the ongoing work involved in drafting the text of the Bill, officials in my department have been engaging with the European Commission in order to ensure that the establishment and operation of HBFI complies with EU State aid rules and also engaging with industry and other stakeholders. 
Once published in the coming weeks I am hopeful that the Oireachtas will be in a position to pass the HBFI Bill before the end of the Spring/Summer legislative term, with a view to HBFI commencing operations later in 2018. 
HBFI will be designed to leverage off the extensive experience already available to the State to deliver this initiative and as such existing NAMA staff skills and expertise will be utilised to deliver this funding. It will be for the Board of HBFI, once constituted, to determine the exact staffing requirements of the fund with reference to its functions. It is envisaged that the HBFI Board, in consultation with the Board of the NTMA and with the approval of the Chief Executive and Board of NAMA, will determine the number of staff to be transferred from NAMA once HBFI is operational. It is expected that the assignment of staff to HBFI will commence shortly after the enactment of the legislation establishing HBFI.