asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he has received particulars of reports recently furnished by medical officers of health to the Laoighis County Board of Health concerning the number of houses considered by them as unfit for human habitation in their respective areas; whether he has also received repeated requests from the Board of Health for sanction for long-term loans, so as to enable the Board to erect the houses which are urgently needed in many parts of the county, and if he is prepared to grant the necessary facilities for this purpose.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Long-Term Housing Loans.
The replies to the first and second parts of the question are in the affirmative. With regard to the third part of the question there is no existing statutory authority to enable advances from the Local Loans Fund to be made for the erection of cottages under the Labourers' Acts. I am, however, prepared to consider an application from the Board for sanction to a loan to be obtained from their treasurer for the purpose.
A fifteen-year loan?
That is a matter for the treasurer.