I have given permission to Deputy Desmond to raise this matter and the Deputy will have 12 minutes.
Adjournment Debate. - Home Improvement Grants.
I thank the Chair for giving me permission to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I do not propose to take any more than five or six minutes.
One aspect of my Question No. 5 of today, to the Minister for the Environment, was if it was correct that almost 50,000 applications had been received for house improvement and solid fuel grants between 1 January 1980 and 1 February 1980 and to inquire the number paid to date. The Minister indicated that it was correct, so in that month what I suppose could be regarded in the history of the State as the most phenomenal number of applications for any grant was received — 50,000.
We all recall the furore caused by the termination of the grant schemes and many remember the tremendous rush of applications at the time. I asked the Minister could he indicate how many grants had been paid to date in respect of these applications. I fully appreciate that it may be difficult to segregate the late applications — the 50,000 which came in during the month of January 1980. What I and everybody in this country want to know — particularly those who have not been paid their grants under the house improvement and solid fuel grant schemes — is how many grants, in total, were submitted to the Department from the inception of these schemes. I put a general question which it is not impossible for the Minister to answer. A home improvement grant of £600 and a solid fuel grant were brought in by the present Government. How many applications in toto were made up to the time the schemes were terminated on 1 January 1980? Of all the applications which have been sent in, how many have been paid and how many remain unpaid?
We have been fed with little snippets of information on this matter which simply do not give any real indication of the extent of the problem. We know from the Minister that in January 6,000 were paid. We also know that in 1980 41,665 were paid, giving a total of 47,665 home improvement grants paid. How many roughly are still in the pipeline awaiting payment and what is the value of these? The Minister said today in the House that £19 million was set aside in this year's budget for home improvement grants. I do not know the value of the 6,000 grants paid in January but assuming, for the sake of argument, that they might be worth £500 each, presumably in the month of January about £3 million was paid out. When will the £19 million provision be exhausted? Does the Minister intend to pay out 6,000 such grants each month up to June and will this money then have run out?
There are very many people constantly coming to all Deputies, saying that they put in an application for a grant in 1979, inspection was done, inquiries were made in 1980, there was another inspection and final confirmation and they received letters saying that payment would be made in due course. Will they get the home improvement grant or not? All I want to be able to say to people is either that they are likely to get it in the first half of this year or that they are not likely to have any prospect of getting it.
Make no bones about this, we know that the scheme resulted in an enormous number of applications for this scheme. How many tens of thousands are still awaiting who will probably be paid some time in the future? Secondly, what is the value, in approximate terms, of the applications being held up for payment? It is a simple piece of information and it should not be beyond the capacity of the Department to give that information, particularly because it relates to this year's budget. I regard the budget show this year as being exclusively the Taoiseach's, and I should like to know if the Taoiseach will turn around and say to the Department: "You can have £19 million; I know you would like to have perhaps £27 million or £37 million so that you can clear the lot, but you will get only £19 million".
I want to know will the £19 million be enough to clear all outstanding applications in the next six months. I have explained my reservations about this scheme and it is of the utmost importance, for the public record, to know how the scheme stands at this stage and what the Government intend to do in relation to outstanding payments. I am sorry to have had to bandy figures around in this way but this matter is all part of the political strategy of the Taoiseach and there should not be a holding back of information. I am sure the scheme is the bane of Deputy Fahey's life because of all the supplications being made to him, but we are entitled to know the situation in terms of applications received, payments made and the amount of money that will be available to meet outstanding payments.
First of all I welcome this opportunity to put the record straight in this matter. I can assure Deputy Desmond that there is no question of withholding information as regards applications, payment of grants or the amount of money available for these payments.
Deputy Desmond should be the first to admit that the content of his question would have placed quite an unreasonable burden on the staff of the Housing Grants Section of my Department, causing further delays to persons awaiting inspection and payment. To compile the information he requested would involve the examination of more than 50,000 files or index cards, including a substantial proportion which would be out with our local inspectors,
The facts of the matter are that between 21 January and 1 February 1980, about 45,000 applications for house improvement grants were received in the Department — more than the number received in the first ten months of 1979. In that year 52,500 applications for grants were received in addition to the concurrent intake of applications for new house grants. The bulk of this work was being processed in January 1980. By way of comparison, 37,500 grant applications were received in 1978.
Because of the huge volume of applications on hands, some delays in dealing with these were absolutely unavoidable even though increased staff, extensive overtime and the recruitment of temporary inspectors were used to speed up processing. As an exceptional measure to ease the problems of delays in inspections, the Minister dispensed with the requirement of a prior inspection before improvement works were commenced. Furthermore, the latest date for completion of the works and claiming the grants was extended from 1 October 1980 to 31 March 1981.
Significant headway is being made with the processing of applications on hands and with the reduction of the waiting periods for inspection and payment. Last year 41,000 house improvement grants and more than 8,000 new house grants were paid. In the first month of 1981, 5,800 improvement grants and 2,000 new house grants were paid. Every effort is being made by the Department to maintain this momentum.
The provision in the Estimate will be sufficient to pay the 41,000 or so house improvement grants, including solid fuel grants, which will mature for payment this year. The total of 90,000 grants mentioned this afternoon by Deputy Desmond has absolutely no foundation in fact. Nothing like that number, or even half of it, will have to be paid. However, in the completely hypothetical eventuality of this number falling due for payment, I can assure the House that the necessary funds would be provided by the Government. Might I remind Deputy Desmond that the £19 million provided for house improvement grants this year represented a slight advance on the £2 million provided for the same purpose in the Coalition Government's last budget in 1977.
I would like to place on record my personal appreciation of the tremendous efforts which have been made by the staff, both indoor and outdoor officers, to deal with the arrears problem. I would also like to express my appreciation of the co-operation and understanding shown by applicants and public representatives in connection with the situation. I want to assure applicants that no effort is being spared to deal with all outstanding cases as quickly as possible. Our efforts in this regard could only be hampered by an unproductive exercise such a that which would have been necessary to provide an answer to the question tabled today by Deputy Desmond.
The Dáil adjourned at 9 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 12 February 1981.