Credit union social housing SPV
Brendan Howlin asked about the long-promised special purpose vehicle to let credit unions invest in social housing and whether it met Central Bank requirements. The Minister of State said the model was being developed independently with the social housing and credit union sectors and should be finished within a month or two.
The programme for Government pledges support for credit unions. A key issue for credit unions is the development of a special purpose vehicle, SPV, to allow them to invest some of the €17 billion in assets in lending for social housing which is urgently needed. Apparently, this long promised special vehicle should be ready by the first quarter of this year. It was previously promised for the third quarter of last year. It is not clear whether the SPV, when introduced, will be compliant with the regulator's requirements for banks? Will the Government confirm that the Central Bank has approved credit union lending through the SPV and will lending by credit unions to the SPV be on or off balance sheet?
Comment on this
The changes made by the Central Bank have allowed for the investment of the resources of credit unions in the SPV. The SPV model is being worked on by the Irish Council of Social Housing and grant-aided by the Department in conjunction with the credit union movement. We had hoped to complete the work in December. The Government cannot-----
Comment on this
It is very hard to hear the Minister of State.
Comment on this
I apologise. The Government cannot do it; it must be done independently. We expect the work to be completed in the next month or two. It is one SPV available to the credit unions; there is already a mechanism available to them, namely, the Credit Union Development Authority, CUDA, which is available for the purpose of investing in social housing.