asked the Minister for Local Government when the money was made available to Waterford Corporation in respect of the loan for reconstruction grants for which they applied in early May, 1959.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Waterford Corporation Reconstruction Grants.
7.
No application was submitted to me by Waterford Corporation in May, 1959, for sanction to the raising of a loan for the payment of supplementary reconstruction grants.
Is the Minister aware that I am a member of the Waterford Corporation, that we made an application to the Minister for a loan of £20,000 in May and that the money was not made available until last week? That is a very long time for small contractors, who are the usual contractors availing of these reconstruction grants, to wait for their money?
I repeat to the Deputy that no application for a loan was received by me from Waterford Corporation in May, 1959.
Why did you send them the money?
Does it follow that there was a loan sanctioned in May?
We applied for it. I am not trying to embarrass the Minister.
The Deputy could not.
When the Minister sent around the circular I was one of the people who welcomed it. Many people took advantage of it and they came to various members of my council and supported it. They were left waiting for their money for over six months. I have been asking this question for the past three weeks and I have been answered another question.
There have been three questions asked by the Deputy. I think this one here was the result of a changed question. A question had been put down with one date; the date was changed and the question was resubmitted in another form. If it is the £20,000 loan the Deputy is inquiring about, may I say that that loan is in respect of Section 12 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1954, and was applied for on the 9th July, 1959, not May, 1959.
Is the Minister aware that July, August, September and October was a long time for those people to wait for their money, considering that most of this work has been done in March and April?
The application for that loan is not strictly relevant to this question but I am giving the Deputy the information in view of the fact that he has already asked three questions in this regard to try to get this information.
"Trying" is right.
On the 9th July, 1959, Waterford Corporation applied for sanction to the raising of a loan of £20,000 from the Local Loans Fund, for the making of supplementary grants under Section 12 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1954. On the 11th July, the Department requested, in the normal course, the submission of certain information, that is, the estimate of annual requirements, etc., to enable the application to be considered. That was two days after we received it. The Corporation replied on the 29th July, which was 19 days after we had sent it out to them, and the loan was recommended to the Commissioners of Public Works on the 8th August.
Could the Minister tell me what was the delay from the 8th August to last week in providing the money?
That is a question which the Deputy will have to address to another Department, but I would say that from my experience of these loans, considering the general data that must be acquired by the Department of Finance, that is not an undue delay, from the 8th August to the end of September.
I am glad the Minister said that. It may not be an undue delay but it is a big delay for a small contractor.
If this is a big delay on the part of the Department, surely the Deputy should consider the 19 days interval that passed from the time we wrote to the Waterford Corporation on the 11th July to the date of their reply to us on the 29th July.
The most important thing in this House is the right to ask parliamentary questions. I want to ask the Minister why, when I asked this question last week, did he reply to me to the effect that the last application that had been made under Sections 11 and 12 had been made by the Waterford Corporation in 1957?
That is still quite true.
But I did not ask that question. I asked about the current loan for this year. There was no money in the Department. The Minister should admit it.
If the Deputy would ask the proper questions and if the Deputy knew what he was asking——
The Deputy knew what he was asking. The Minister may as well admit he had not the money.
Put down another question.
I shall put it down.