Housing biggest winner from National Development Plan review with €35.9bn allocated
Today at 11:09
Housing is the biggest winner from the review of the National Development Plan (NDP), with the department to be given €35.9 billion to spend between 2026 and 2030.
The Government this afternoon unveiled the updated spending ceilings for Government departments, which has come from the sale of AIB shares and the Apple Tax money.
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Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Donohoe delayed approving sale of State's final shares in AIB
Minister for Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe asked for a three-week postponement on the final sale of the State's stake in AIB so he could consult government about the bank's exit from 'crisis relationships'. Senior officials had sought permission to carry out a 'clean-up share disposal' on May 23rd to finally end state ownership in the bank after the financial crash. However, the Minister looked for extra time as officials said the sale would 'inevitably refocus the discussion around the topic of remuneration' and the salary cap for bankers. In a note on the submission, Mr Donohoe wrote: 'I am absolutely committed to the return of AIB to private ownership. However, I want to exit from crisis relationships with [the] bank at same time. READ MORE 'I will need to engage with government on this and will not have this complete by end of this week. Ask department to consider execution of same plan but in second half of June.' [ How AIB went from boom to bust and back again Opens in new window ] In mid-June, officials submitted a second submission on the sale saying it would 'trigger an opportunity re: salary cap.' It said the State was looking to offload nearly 44 million shares and hoped to bring in around €310 million through the sale. The submission said: 'The implication of this trade is that it will trigger an expectation to begin unwinding the crisis-era remuneration restrictions that remain in place (in particular the removal of the salary cap).' Officials wrote that AIB was one of the best performing banks in Europe and that strong momentum had continued since the last time the State sold some of its shareholding. It said the final sale would represent a 'natural point' to normalise the relationship between AIB and the State. The submission also cautioned that if pay restrictions from AIB were removed, it should also apply to PTSB . 'Absent of that happening, it would put PTSB at a severe disadvantage,' said the document. 'Such a scenario is not in taxpayers' interests.' In a note, Mr Donohoe wrote: 'I agreed to this process via phone yesterday. This is to indicate that approval was given and to conclude official documentation.' A separate presentation on the State's post-crash investment in banks said the taxpayer had invested €29.4 billion in AIB, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB. From that, around €28.7 billion had been recovered although this was over an extended period of a decade and a half. The presentation said as well as implications for the salary cap, other restrictions on how AIB operates would change. One slide said: 'These restrictions include monthly meetings with senior management, access to board papers, [and] various reporting/consent/consultation requirements. 'Since the State's exit from BOI ( Bank of Ireland ), that bank is no longer subject to these conditions. We recommend putting AIB on an equal footing with BOI in this context.' On pay caps, another slide said all restrictions were eliminated for Bank of Ireland apart from bonus payments exceeding €20,000 per year. 'While restrictions around variable pay up to €20,000 and fringe benefits were also removed for AIB and PTSB, both banks continue to abide by the total compensation cap of €500,000 per annum that is currently in place,' it said. This additional restriction relative to Bank of Ireland was 'anti-competitive and unsustainable'.
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Government's own housing development finance company grows approvals to €3bn
Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI), the Government vehicle set up to provide loans for housing developments, has seen its loan approvals grow by €336m during the first six months of the year. The company's total loan approvals stands at just over €3bn since it commenced operations at the start of 2019. Of that total, €2.25bn has been drawn down for 135 developments, supporting 12,251 homes where construction is in progress or has completed. HBFI typically expects a time lag of between three and six months between a loan being approved and its first drawdown. As of the end of June, HBFI had approved funding for a total of 15,186 new homes in 206 developments, across 25 counties. A total of 5,514 HBFI-funded units have already been sold, with a further 3,338 contracted for sale or sale-agreed as at the end of June 2025. The size of the average development approved is 74 units The value of individual loans range from €1m to €113m, with an average size of €14.6m. HBFI chief executive Dara Deering said the steady growth in loan approvals reflects the 'ongoing appetite among small, medium and large housebuilding companies for finance to help meet the demand for new homes'. Of the total number of homes funded by the HBFI, 48% are for owner-occupiers, 39% are social/affordable housing, while 8% are for renters. The remaining 5% are set aside for local authorities to acquire. The HBFI said the results showed a strong demand from small- and medium-sized housebuilders, with 83% of the loan amounts approved to date valued at €20m or less. Additionally, 88% of loans approved to date by HBFI provide more than 65% of the project costs, showing 'this demand for funding reflects the continued equity constraints facing many housebuilders', the company said. HBFI is a private company with its own board operating on a commercial basis, but wholly owned by the minister for finance. Finance minister Paschal Donohoe said he remained 'satisfied that HBFI continues to fulfil its functions and remains a necessary part of the debt-funding market'.
Irish Times
15 hours ago
- Irish Times
Dublin's planned MetroLink will be obsolete because of artificial intelligence, says Dermot Desmond
Artificial intelligence (AI) will make Dublin's planned MetroLink obsolete and the Government should abandon the €10 billion project, according to businessman Dermot Desmond . Instead, Mr Desmond has urged the Government to concentrate on the coming advantages of AI , where autonomously-driven vehicles (AVs) will cut car ownership dramatically in the decades ahead. If approved, construction of the 18.8 km mostly-underground MetroLink should begin between 2028 and 2031, with services between Swords, Dublin Airport, Dublin city centre, and on to Charlemont in south Dublin city opening in early 2035. Equipped with driverless trains running every 3 minutes during peak hours, the MetroLink is proposed to carry 20,000 passengers each hour, each way when it opens. READ MORE Dermot Desmond has said he believes MetroLink will be out of date in 10 or 15 years' time. Photograph: Cyril Byrne However, Mr Desmond is scathing of the plan, believing that public and private transportation is on the cusp globally of the biggest changes for a century or more on the back of the growth of AI. The billionaire said he had believed that the Department of Finance should veto the MetroLink. 'I think it will be useless, out of date in 10 or 15 years' time. This is something that is not going to be required, it shouldn't be planned.' AI and autonomous vehicles will cut the numbers of vehicles on the roads dramatically, he predicted: 'I think you need to look at what's going to happen in the future and then plan backwards.' The billionaire investor has become increasingly interested in the subject of AI, sponsoring a conference in Belfast last month with Queen's University, which heard from major speakers from the United States and elsewhere. 'Where the change that's going to make a big difference to everybody in the world, not alone Ireland. I think that change is going to come out of transport,' Mr Desmond declared then. 'Within 15 to 25 years, I think it will be mandated that there will be autonomous vehicles. People will not be allowed to drive anything,' he said, adding that AI is already cutting travel times and saving energy. 'Public transport systems in the future will become much more efficient. Buses will know what and where the demand is and will organise themselves accordingly,' said Mr Desmond, who urged the Government to plan for wide-scale AV bus services. The changes to come will overturn every conception held today about transport in cities, with faster journeys, less pollution and far less demand for parking because there will be fewer private vehicles, replaced by robotaxis. Most cars today lie idle for 80 per cent of their lives. 'The most optimistic case for Dublin is a reduction of 98% in vehicle numbers,' he said, though he put most realistic reduction between 20% and 60%. 'AV cars will require less space on roads as they will be better able to travel efficiently if the margin for human error is removed,' he said, 'We already live in a world where our phones anticipate when we will leave for work and tell us how long it will take. '
