asked the Minister for the Environment why his Department recently issued a circular changing the terms of reference of accessibility for applicants for the SDA loan system and confining it to persons who are living in seriously overcrowded conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - SDA Loans.
15.
In a circular which issued on 6 February 1981, the Minister emphasised to housing authorities the necessity of ensuring that the benefits of the local authority house purchase loan scheme should go only to eligible applicants whose need for housing had been established and who had proved to the satisfaction of the local authority that they are unable to obtain mortgage finance from any other agency. His reason for doing this was to ensure that, in the light of the huge increase in demand for these loans and the consequent burden on capital resources, the scheme should benefit the categories of persons for whom it was intended.
The Minister of State means that there was not enough money.
The Deputy need not talk. You would want to be a pauper to get money at the time of his administration.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Quinn, a supplementary.
Where is the Minister, on a point of information?
If Deputy Quinn does not ask a supplementary question I will have to proceed to the next question.
I would like very much to ask a supplementary question, if I may. Can the Minister of State indicate the reason for the change in policy in relation to applying this criterion, that the applicants now must be in seriously overcrowded conditions, which was not a previous requirement for an SDA loan application? Why is this means test in physical terms of hardship applied to one category of beneficiary under our housing package and why are people who would benefit from the overall interest subsidiary package not so subjected to a similar type of means test?
That was a good question.
The intention of this circular is in keeping with what Deputy Tully was saying, to try to hold the available money for those who would not be able——
(Interruptions.)
I do not want to be rude to the Minister. I understand what he is saying, but why is it that in one room this package was designed with a very severe income test while in another room in the same Department there was no such income limit attaching to the housing problem?
I would not agree that there is a very severe income test.
No, means test.
Seriously overcrowded conditions.
I want to deal with the means test end of it.
This SDA loan now has a new condition attached to it which is that you have to be living in seriously overcrowded conditions. Will the Minister of State agree that one of the previous main beneficiaries for an SDA loan was an engaged couple? Is he suggesting now to the House that they should live in seriously overcrowded conditions before they get the SDA loans?
In the operation of the scheme it is open to each local authority to show flexibility in this matter. We want to avoid giving the loan to a person who already has a house, whose housing needs are met, perhaps to buy another house elsewhere because that person wants a change of residence or to live in some nicer area. That is not the purpose of the scheme.
That is not what the circular says.
On that basis are the Government prepared to say to the youth of the country that henceforth the SDA loans no longer apply to young engaged couples or newlyweds?
No. They are the very people for whom we are trying to preserve the money.
(Interruptions.)
Is it not the situation that before a person can qualify for an SDA loan he must produce written evidence from a building society, a bank and an insurance company that he has been refused an application for a loan?
I do not know where the Deputy got that information. It is certainly not in anything we have sent out that such people must give written evidence. The purpose of it is to conserve the capital that is available for the people who are most in need. It must be remembered that since this Government took office the drain on that is all the greater because we have increased the maximum local authority loan from £4,500 to £14,000.
Is the Minister not aware that there is an instruction from his Department that all local authorities must obtain written confirmation that an applicant has been refused a house purchase loan from a building society, an insurance company and a bank prior to being considered for an SDA loan? Is the Minister aware that in the last two months, and immediately prior to the announcement of the new housing package, the local authorities were notified that the income of a spouse was to be taken into account in determining eligibility thereby eliminating all engaged couples from eligibility because virtually no engaged couple will have a joint income of less that £7,000? Is the Minister aware of that?
Let me state again that it is a matter for the local authorities concerned——
Those are instructions from the Minister's Department.
They have discretion in the matter.
Ceist a 16.
Is it not a fact——
The Deputy may not ask a supplementary. I have called Question No. 16.