I did not give that as an individual case but as an example of the kind of case I am getting, and, I am sure the Minister is getting too. We would be failing in our responsibility to these people if we did not air this type of case here.
I do not know if the policy with regard to releasing money from the Local Loans Fund has changed, but in the past the local authority of which I am a member received a substantial sum — this year it was £2.1 million — every six months. In that way they knew where they were going. What is happening today? We got a monthly payment but from what we got last Monday — £74,000 — I hope it was a weekly payment. Are we getting to the stage where local authorities will be paid day by day? That is how it appears to me. A local authority with approval for £4 million are getting £74,000 — an insult. That is the only way I can describe it. It means we can give relief to six or seven people on a list of 386.
I ask the Minister to look at how these payments are being made and to tell local authorities what they are getting. Even if he does not have the money to pay them now, he could tell them how much they will be getting every month or every six months. It is very worrying for county managers and principal officers of housing departments to approve loans while not knowing when they can be honoured. These people do not get any pleasure seeing housing applicants getting into difficulties, knowing they have loan approval and cannot get into their homes.
I want to refer to the payment from the Local Loans Fund to local authorities for the resettlement of the itinerant population. The local authorities should be told the amount of money being made available for this purpose. I have no complaints about payments to Dublin County Council. I do not know of any hold-up in that area but I know that there are other local authorities who do not know where they stand and this is affecting the settlement of itinerants. We in the Dublin area have gone some considerable distance to find out what the problem is. As of two weeks ago, we know there are 310 itinerant famiilies in the greater Dublin area and we have planned for their resettlement. I am sure the Minister will give the money when requested, because he has not yet refused us.
He should ask the Minister for the Environment to encourage local authorities to apply for money for the scheme to settle itinerants. He should then make the money available, or say it will be available when it is needed. Some local authorities are holding back because they cannot afford to go ahead with the schemes in case the finance is not available. This is affecting very important work which many local authorities have embarked on and it will certainly affect the resettlement of itinerants in the Dublin area.
This is a problem that should be tackled on a national basis. We have come a fair way up the road and many local authorities are interested in settling the travelling people. What is holding them back is the fact that one local authority knows it will be financed by the Local Loans Fund, while their neighbours do not know if the money will be available and they are not prepared to go ahead with the scheme. In other words, if we in the Dublin area go ahead with the resettlement of the itinerant population and our neighbours Meath, Wicklow, Kildare, do not go ahead with their plans, there will be an influx of itinerants from those areas into the Dublin area.
I appeal to the Minister to tell the local authorities that money will be available for the resettlement of local itinerants. When this happens we will make greater progress than at present.