ISIF housing investments
Deputy O'Callaghan questioned why State money was being used through Activate Capital and similar vehicles to finance homes that are then leased back at high rents. The Taoiseach said the Government had no direct role in such investment decisions and preferred direct social housing builds.
The State has provided €500 million to Activate Capital, among the investments of which is housing at Blackhall Place that was built by a private developer and is being leased to Dublin City Council for approximately €2,000 per month per home. Why is the State providing funding to developers to build homes that will be leased to the State at such rents? Effectively, the State is providing the original finance and double guaranteeing the scheme by paying the mortgages without owning the homes at the end.
Comment on this
If he is, the Government does not get involved. The Government has no direct involvement in its decisions in terms of its investments.
I will make a broader point. Capital is important to create building and to get housing and residential units going. The State provides the bulk of it right now in terms of allocating funding to local authorities and approved housing bodies to get housing built. Our preference is for direct builds. We want to get as much social housing provided as we possibly can. Over the years, there have been other types of development that have been facilitated, such as student accommodation, through a variety of means. We need to get supply up overall. There is a role for both public investment and private investment in respect of getting the overall supply of residential units into the marketplace.