It was not a mistake to include a shared equity scheme in the Government’s landmark housing plan without approval from the Central Bank, the Minister for Housing said on Thursday.
Darragh O’Brien said that it was “absolutely not” a mistake to include the scheme in the Housing For All plan without the backing of the Central Bank.
The Minister was speaking at the launch of the Housing Finance Agency’s annual report, which shows that a record €1 billion was loaned to Approved Housing Bodies to build 4,500 new homes in 2020.
Opposition parties had criticised Mr O’Brien last week and had suggested that he misled the Dáil on the matter.
The minister later issued a clarification of his remarks.
On Monday, Mr O’Brien said that his focus wasn’t on “debates”.
“A lot of people like to talk about it, I like to get results,” he said.
“My focus is genuinely on delivery.”
“I welcome the debate around it, but this is our plan and we intend to deliver on it.”
The Government’s shared equity scheme is one of the more controversial parts of its housing strategy.
The plan has been defended by government ministers, but criticised by opposition parties and some think-tanks.
On Monday, Mr O’Brien promised that the Government’s housing plans presented solutions to the country’s housing crisis.
“There’s a whole cohort of people who feel they’ve been completely disenfranchised,” he told an audience in Dublin.
The Housing Finance Agency annual report shows that loan advances from the agency dropped by 13 per cent in 2020 compared to the previous year, to a total of €549 million amid the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
