asked the Minister for Local Government if he will state if he has sanctioned a scheme for 76 houses at Ballyfermot, to be carried out under direct labour system by Dublin Corporation, and if a proposal for the building of 200 houses at Chapelizod by the same method has been put forward for sanction; and, further, if he will state why he has departed from the assurance given by him to the federation of builders in 1951 that in all proposed housing schemes after that date the direct labour units of local bodies would have to submit to the test of competition with private building firms.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Ballyfermot and Chapelizod Housing Schemes.
Approval to the erection by direct labour of 76 houses at Ballyfermot was issued to Dublin Corporation on the 26th March last. No proposal in regard to the erection of 200 houses at Chapelizod by direct labour has been submitted to my Department.
The circumstances in which approval was given to the carrying-out of the 76-house scheme by direct labour were exceptional in that the proposal was merely in substitution for a direct labour scheme of comparable size which had previously been approved but which had to be abandoned owing to difficulties in relation to land acquisition.
My general policy, as quoted by the Deputy, remains unaltered.