asked the Minister for Local Government if he is aware that the policy of Dublin County Council in relation to the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts is imposing hardships upon persons who are seeking to avail themselves of housing loans in order to purchase homes; that this is due to a county council regulation that loans will not be made to applicants who contract to pay a ground rent in excess of £10 per annum; that in the present state of the housing market few applicants are able to locate houses with ground rents below £12 or £13 per annum; that they are compelled, therefore, as a result of the Council's policy to take up loans from commercial sources at interest rates greater than that applicable to county council loans; and if in view of this undesirable result plus the expected demise of ground rents in the foreseeable future he will recommend immediate reconsideration of this well-intentioned, but self-defeating, policy by Dublin County Council.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Small Dwellings Acts: Dublin County Council Policy.
50.
I am not so aware. The number and amount of loans made by Dublin County Council under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts have increased from 258 loans and a total of £356,657 in 1957-58 to 626 loans and a total of £954,778 in 1961-62.
These figures do not reveal a position warranting any departure from the general policy of leaving the administration of the Acts to the discretion of the housing authority.