I move amendment No. 9:—
In page 7, after Section 15, to insert the following new section:—
16.—(1) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, and subject to regulations made under this section make, out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas, to any person or public utility society erecting one or more than one house, a grant not exceeding the appropriate sum specified in the Third Schedule to this Act if—
(a) erection commenced on or after the 1st day of November, 1945, and is completed on or before the 1st day of April, 1950;
(b) such house or houses complies or comply with the rules set out in the First Schedule to the Act of 1932;
(c) such house or houses was or were not occupied on or before the 1st day of November, 1947;
(d) such house or houses is or are occupied when completed by
(i) in case such house or houses is or are erected by a public utility society—a member of that society,
(ii) in any other case—the person who erected such house.
(2) A grant under this section together with a grant under Section 5 of the Act of 1932 as amended by any subsequent enactment (including this Act) shall not exceed the appropriate sum specified in the Third Schedule to this Act.
(3) The Minister shall not make a grant under this section in respect of a house in respect of which he is prohibited from making a grant under sub-section (3) of Section 5 of the Act of 1932 as amended by Section 4 of the Act of 1937.
(4) The Minister may make regulations for the purposes of this section.
On the Second Reading of the Bill and on the Committee Stage a strong appeal was made from all quarters of the House for making the new housing grant retrospective. This amendment provides that the grants payable to persons and public utility societies for owner occupation will apply to houses commenced on or after 1st November, 1945, but not occupied on 1st November, 1947. I indicated that I would bring in an amendment more or less on these lines but that, in view of the great variety of cases which might have to be covered, I would not propose to give the full amount of the grants originally provided for in the Bill. This amendment accordingly proposes to give grants equivalent to 70 per cent. of the grants originally proposed.