asked the Minister for Transport and Power if he is aware that Irish hoteliers are now contemplating legal action against Bord Fáilte to recover grants due; if so, if he will explain why these grants have not been paid; and what steps he proposes to take to deal with the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions Oral Answers. - Hotel Grants.
15.
I have seen reports to the effect that some hoteliers are contemplating legal action against Bord Fáilte in order to secure payment of accommodation grants but the board have told me that they have no further information in the matter.
As I explained to the House on 28th July last, grants are normally paid by Bord Fáilte within a short period of the completion and certification of the particular project. Up to last year, the amount voted for grant payments each year proved sufficient for the purpose and there was no delay in the payment of grants, but in 1969-70 there was a rapid acceleration in the building up of commitments with the result that the demands on the board for grant payments exceeded the sum of £1 million which had been voted for the purpose.
In order to deal with the situation, I secured Dáil approval in December, 1970, for a supplementary estimate of £500,000, bringing the total provision for 1969-70 to £1.5 million. This additional sum was used by Bord Fáilte to ease the most pressing cases but some commitments had to be carried forward to the current year. With a view to clearing the backlog of grants as quickly as possible and having regard to grant commitments in respect of accommodation projects already in the pipeline, the board decided as a general rule not to enter into any new grant commitments as from July, 1969.
This year, Bord Fáilte have again been allotted £1.5 million for the payment of accommodation grants and, within this limit, the board have been dealing with cases in such a way as to spread the available funds as widely and as fairly as possible and thereby to avoid hardship to developers. Nevertheless, some commitments will have to be carried forward to next year and this fact will be taken into account in the settlement of funds for 1971-72.
Could the Minister say how much is outstanding in grants at the moment? What is the total amount?
It depends on the stages. There are definite grant commitments——
I mean grants for hotel accommodation.
Yes, There are definite grant commitments to the extent of £2.7 million.
Could the Minister say whether the whole question of existing and future accommodation, which is very much tied up with Question No. 15 as well as Question No. 14, has been examined? Last July the Minister indicated that the whole matter was being examined and would be part of the total examination of Bord Fáilte and the tourist industry. Has any survey or examination been carried out into future accommodation needs of hotels?
Did I not say this in reply to the previous question? Was the Deputy listening? I answered that in reply to the Deputy's Question No. 14.
I am sorry. There were interruptions and I did not hear.
I shall give the Deputy a copy of it.
Does the Minister propose to bring in a further supplementary estimate?
A consultancy firm commissioned jointly by Bord Fáilte and Aer Lingus, in association with the Irish Hotels Federation, are doing a detailed study of our holiday accommodation requirements up to 1985 at the moment. That is the gist of my reply.