asked the Minister for Local Government if he will state the number of houses which it is estimated is required to complete the housing needs of Tullamore.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Tullamore Housing.
The number, based on a survey carried out by the urban council, is 170 houses approximately, excluding houses recently completed or now in progress.
asked the Minister for Local Government if he will give details of the sites for housing schemes which have been submitted to his Department by Tullamore Urban District Council; and if he will state what sites have been approved by his Department.
No proposals for the acquisition of housing sites have been submitted for approval by Tullamore Urban District Council other than that at Spollanstown, details of which are being given to the Deputy in reply to a separate question.
asked the Minister for Local Government if he will state whether officials of his Department have inspected the proposed site for a housing scheme at "Walshe's Field", Charleville Road, Tullamore, Offaly; whether the site has been found suitable and, if not, on what grounds it has been deemed unsuitable.
No proposals have been submitted for the acquisition of a housing site at "Walshe's Field", Charleville Road, Tullamore; consequently, the question of an official inspection has not arisen.
Can the Minister give the House a guarantee that no inspector or officer of his Department has been on the site at "Walshe's Field" within the past month so far as he is aware?
No official inspection of the site has been carried out.
In the event of an inspector or officer carrying out an inspection, will the Minister ascertain whether this was to satisfy local representation or whether the inspector was sent officially?
There has been no proposal received in the Department for the acquisition of a site for housing at "Walshe's Field" and no official inspection was made. A report from the county engineer to the Tullamore Urban District Council in 1948 stated that the site at Charleville Road was unsuitable for mass building, was uneven, there were sewerage difficulties and it would be expensive.
asked the Minister for Local Government if he will give full reasons as to why permission was not granted Tullamore Urban District Council to acquire the site at Spollanstown, Tullamore, for a housing scheme, and whether he will now give approval in respect of this site.
The purchase of a site of approximately 15 acres at Spollanstown was sanctioned on the 23rd February, 1949, subject to the council being satisfied that satisfactory arrangements could be made for extended water and sewerage services. Subsequently it transpired that the cost of the sewerage extension would be approximately £13,500, and that improvement work to ensure an adequate supply of water, and also improved access to the site, would involve expenditure additional to this amount. When the council's proposals for sewering the site were examined, it was ascertained that other sites of the town had been reported on by the council's engineer when the Spollanstown site was selected. No information in regard to those sites was furnished to my Department when the Spollanstown proposal was submitted for approval.
The council have been informed that the expense involved in providing satisfactory sewerage to the Spollanstown area casts serious doubts on the wisdom of using the proposed site for immediate housing development. Reference has been made to the other sites reported on by the council's engineer, and the council have been requested to reconsider the whole question of housing development at Spollanstown. The council's reply is now awaited.
asked the Minister for Local Government if he will obtain a report on the proposal to erect a housing scheme at West End, near the canal banks, at Tullamore, in view of the fact that the area is already greatly congested and very near the local sewerage tank.
I understand that a housing site has been selected by the council at West End (West O'Molloy Street) and that details will be furnished to the Department shortly. When the council's proposals in the matter are received the matters referred to by the Deputy, together with other relevant factors, will be fully considered.
Will the Minister undertake now, when this matter comes before the Department, to have an inspection carried out and will he request his colleague, the Minister for Health, to have it inspected by the Department's officers in view of the proximity of the local sewerage tank and other nuisances to the place where it is proposed to dump the workers of Tullamore in houses? That is something that I will not stand over or subscribe to. I would resign from the Government Party first.
Surely, the Deputy is not serious?
I will not have that sort of thing going on at all in Tullamore.
asked the Minister for Local Government if he received recently a deputation from the Room Dwellers' Association, Tullamore, to whom he gave a promise that his Department would request the local urban district council not to demolish old houses in the town until its housing needs had been met in full, and if he will state why his Department has not communicated with the urban district council in the matter.
I received a deputation from the Tullamore Room Dwellers' Association on the 3rd November, 1949, and agreed to take up the question of demolition of old houses in Tullamore with the local authority. Following my examination of the position generally a circular letter was recently issued to Tullamore Urban District Council and all other urban housing authorities advising them that no house should be demolished by them unless it is definitely impracticable and uneconomic to render it reasonably fit for human habitation. However, I have no power to compel a local authority either to enforce a demolition order or to postpone the operation of such an order.
Is the Minister aware that the Tullamore Urban District Council are disobeying this request and that good houses are deliberately pulled down? Will he undertake to have this matter attended to by his Department?
I have issued a circular to the Tullamore Urban District Council and other urban housing authorities on this subject. I have no power to compel the local authority to desist in the matter of demolition. I have asked them to refrain from demolition in the circumstances set out in my reply.
Has the Minister received representations from the Tullamore Urban District Council asking that approval be given to the repair of a number of old houses which will be occupied again, and is he aware that there is considerable delay in getting a reply from his Department?
I have received a reply from the manager following a letter which I wrote to him. He says:—
"In dealing with operations in respect of these and other old houses, every consideration has been given to the possibility of having the houses kept in use by getting the minimum repairs done and the requirements of the Housing Acts are given the most literal interpretation in order to save demolition where at all possible."
That is the manager's reply to me.
Have these repairs to be carried out by the owner or by the tenant?
That is a separate question.