asked the Minister for Local Government if he will make arrangements whereby all applications, inspections, sanctions and payments in respect of house grants will be administered directly by each local authority and the current departmental functions will be transferred to local authorities.
Written Answers. - Housing Grants Administration.
356.
The Deputy will appreciate that legislation would be required for the full transfer of these functions to local authorities. I myself am in favour of the principle of the maximum devolution of appropriate functions from my Department to the local authorities and have given effect to this principle in a number of ways. As regards house grants, what I have done is to have administration devolved temporarily on an agency basis to certain local authorities, in the hope that the experience gained will assist in the consideration of the merits of a formal statutory transfer of all the work to local authorities. The devolution involves the administration of new house grants by Meath County Council and of reconstruction and individual water and sewerage grants by Longford and Westmeath county councils.