Earlier this week, I raised with the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy English, the problems that are pretty rampant with the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme. I cited the example of a working couple with a clean credit rating who saved their deposit. One of them is working in telecoms and the other is a hairdresser. Their application under this scheme was refused. I had heard the figure of 67% of applicants being refused. The Minister of State indicated that it is not that bad but that the figure stands at 50%. He said it needs to be worked on. It certainly does if that is the level of refusal in a scheme that is supposed to provide working people with the opportunity to buy homes in a climate where prices are extortionate and where people are having difficulties getting mortgages. When will the work to which the Minister of State referred be done? When will we do something to re-engineer the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme?

I thank the Deputy for the question. More than 1,000 Rebuilding Ireland home loans have been approved since the scheme was introduced in February. It is a very popular product because it helps people with affordability. An affordable mortgage with a fixed-term interest rate over its lifetime is unique in the Irish market. It is very popular but local authorities must be prudent in making sure when they lend that they do so to people who can afford to make repayments. I am aware of a number of inconsistencies in how the Rebuilding Ireland home loan is being applied across local authorities. An assessment has been done and I am reviewing that assessment at present with regard to what further changes may be made in the very near future.