Vol. 241 No. 4
asked the Minister for Local Government if, having regard to the steep increase in the price of land, interest charge, labour and materials in house building and repair, he will increase new house grants and house repair and reconstruction grants.
21.
asked the Minister for Local Government if in view of increased costs he proposes to increase housing grants; and, if so, when.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 21 together.
I would refer the Deputies to the recent White Paper, Housing in the Seventies, which sets out the increased rates of grants which are proposed for new houses to be commenced on or after 1st October next.
As regards grants for reconstruction I would refer the Deputies to my reply to Question No. 27 of 23rd April, 1969, Question No. 30 of 20th March, 1969, and Question No. 17 of 5th December, 1968.
Could I ask the Minister, if he has the information available, when these new house grants and repair grants were last revised?
The new grants were last revised last month.
That is ridiculous.
That was before the election.
Any date has to be before or after the election.
You introduced a White Paper and did nothing about it.
The White Paper was not produced in a matter of weeks.
It was produced and kept in cold storage until you found it useful.
22.
asked the Minister for Local Government why an applicant (name supplied) in County Roscommon was allocated a grant of only £275 for the building of a new house, when he was apparently entitled to a grant at the higher rate of £450.
The application in this case was for a new house grant at the normal scale and the appropriate grant at that scale has been allocated. He has been asked to supply additional information to enable his eligibility for the higher rate of grant to be examined.
