In conjunction with Deputy Davin I asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he would state:
"whether he has now considered the report submitted to him by the local authority relative to the housing scheme at Clara, Offaly; whether he is prepared to make public the terms of the report; and whether he proposes to have the scheme examined by an engineering officer of his Department."
In a lengthy reply the Minister did not, I submit, answer the question. In the course of his reply he stated that the all-in cost of the scheme was £62,000 and he went on to say that the cottages were erected five years ago. How can the Minister explain why, after five years, in a scheme which cost £62,000, it is estimated by the county engineer that it will take £13,000 to put them into a condition in which 144 tenants can live in them? Will the Minister explain to the House how £13,000 was arrived at to put the houses into a habitable condition?
The Minister stated in his reply that cottages of a similar type to those in Offaly had been erected in other parts and that no complaints had been received from the tenants. I wish to point out that the Minister made a statement on that occasion that was misleading to the House. In the Custom House there are files and volumes of correspondence referring to the defects of a housing scheme that was completed at the same time in Edenderry. The Minister was asked to intervene there as the tenants complained to his Department that there was no right of way. In another scheme a tenant took legal proceedings against Offaly County Council resulting in a victory for the tenants. Though the Minister stated he received no complaints from the tenants residing in cottages similar to those in Offaly, I say that he did receive complaints. I want the Minister to explain why he is not prepared to publish the terms of the report that he received from the county manager.
I asked him to-day to send a copy of the report of the county manager of Offaly to the county council so that they could discuss it and make recommendations. If there is nothing in the report which the Minister wishes to hide, he will have no hesitation in sending a copy to Offaly County Council for their observations. Does the Minister not realise that quite recently at a meeting of Offaly County Council the scheme to which he now gives great credit was referred to as the "Clara Tuberculosis Factory" where 144 tenants are living under deplorable conditions? Yet the Minister told us that it was one of the most up-to-date housing schemes. The tenants there have to bring turf from local bogs into their houses. Imagine building 144 houses for the working classes in the year 1940 without providing a road which they could use, and where the back doors of some houses face the front doors of others. The local people in Clara invited the five T.D's. in the constituency to inspect the houses. Deputy O'Higgins, who is also a county medical officer of health, Deputy Davin and I visited them. I was shocked at the deplorable conditions under which these tenants are expected to live. Remember that they are people who were mostly living in condemned houses prior to 1939. They were told to leave and to go into the new houses where they find the conditions impossible. The Minister knows that there must be something wrong when that is the position of houses after being built five years, and when the ratepayers of Offaly are asked to foot a bill of £13,000 for repairs. I went into the houses and I found in a great many cases that the fireplaces had fallen out and had to be put back.