asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health whether he has received complaints regarding the failure of the Laoighis County Board of Health to make use of loans made available for housing schemes in the county; whether he can state the date when the Board made application to the Royal Liver Friendly Society for a loan of £35,000; the date when this amount was paid to the treasurers of the Board; whether he can state the date upon which sanction was given by his Department for an additional loan of £21,000 for a similar purpose; how many houses have been erected or are in course of erection, and what steps, if any, he proposes to take in order to compel this body to make use of moneys already sanctioned for the carrying out of housing schemes in this county.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Laoighis Housing Schemes.
Representations have been received as to delay in the use of a loan of £35,000 obtained by the Leix Board of Health for the building of 71 cottages on plots already acquired and about 50 cottages of a new scheme which was being formulated. The loan was obtained in September last and the Board then decided to apply it exclusively to the new scheme. This course was agreed to by me in October last, but subsequently on going further into the question of the deferred cottages the Board decided to revert to their original proposal. Tenders were invited in November last for 28 of the deferred cottages, but only 19 cottages were tendered for by contractors and the prices for these, save in three cases, were excessive. The three tenders were approved of and fresh advertisements issued for the remainder. The Board originally invited tenders for masonry only, but in readvertising they asked for tenders in four alternative forms of construction.
Tenders have now been received for 24 cottages and are under consideration by the Department. Of the remaining 44 deferred cottages three have been abandoned on the ground of the sites being unsuitable and plans for the remaining 41 have been revised by the Board's engineer on the advice of the Department and are now before me for formal approval. Tenders for these cottages can be invited at once by the Board of Health.
In addition to this, the Board is formulating a new scheme for 293 cottages in connection with which about 50 sites can be acquired by agreement. When these 50 sites are secured the cottages can be built out of the balance of the £35,000 loan. In the meantime the Board of Health propose to proceed with the acquisition compulsorily of the remaining sites. The Board have also at present 560 representations for further cottages in the hands of their Sites Committees, but until it is seen clearly the total number of cottages to be included in the further scheme the question of raising the additional loan remains deferred.