If persons are old enough to vote and marry they should be allowed to enter into a contract. Here we are not talking about a contract which is binding all their lives; it is only binding for the period until they reach 21 years.
I did not realise Deputy Acheson was making her maiden speech. I join with Deputy Burke in congratulating and welcoming her to this House. She was right when she said people who borrow money do not look at the small print because they are so anxious to get into their houses. The only cure for that situation is when the supply of houses exceeds demand. When there is competition for houses among prospective customers the result is that house prices increase. Young people, because they are in too much of a hurry or are badly advised, do not always fully appreciate what they are getting into. This is an area we must all keep an eye on and try to correct by having so many houses that the customer has a choice.
When somebody goes to a local authority to borrow money to buy a house I hope the officer dealing with him will tell him the best type of loan for his situation and will not try to shove him into one or other category. He should present fairly to the applicant the benefits and drawbacks of both schemes and then the applicant can made his choice.
Deputy Acheson asked what would happen if somebody died. This situation arises all the time, no matter what method of financing is involved. Usually most responsible people take out a mortgage protection policy. Of course, there are some cases where such a policy is not taken out and a person may be killed in a car accident. In that case the widow would be better off if she had an SDA loan or a building society loan while a person who gets sick would be better off under this scheme. If a person is sick and has an SDA or building society loan his weekly repayments remain the same, but if he has an agency loan his repayments will drop to 18 per cent of his new income. There is a measure of protection there but it is the type of protection nobody would want to use because it would mean the breadwinner was sick or unemployed.
Deputy Noonan asked about stage payments. They can and will be arranged because this will help applicants avoid bridging finance. Deputies asked if they would have an opportunity of discussing the operation of this agency later. The annual reports of the agency will have to be laid before the House and then a Deputy may ask for a debate on the agency. Under section 6 if I give a direction to the agency as to how they should operate, I must lay that before both Houses. On that occasion, either House can have discussion on the operation of the agency.
Deputy Mitchell raised the point about the average price of new houses and asked about the combination of payments under this agency. The average price of new houses bought under the SDA loans scheme in the September quarter was £24,760. Under the agency's scheme a borrower earning £7,500 per annum could buy a house costing £25,750, get the £1,000 grant, pay a deposit of £2,250 and borrow £22,500. Under the SDA loan scheme he would have to pay between £9,000 and £10,000 deposit and under this scheme he would pay £2,250 deposit.
Deputy Burke raised the question of the manning of the agency. This is something which the city and county managers will decide. I will be surprised if it is not part of the discussions that will take place between the officials of my Department and the County Managers' Association when they meet in January. A whole range of questions will be asked and many assurances sought. It is a normal thing for this to happen and it occurs frequently between the various Departments and the agencies they control. In my case it is the local authorities. I am sure that something will be worked out.
I hope Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn is satisfied with the answer I gave about new and second-hand houses. The same Deputy asked if there is a penalty for a person who redeems a loan. There will not be but they will be liable to repay the balance of the capital and the accumulated interest. There will be a shortfall in their repayments in the early years and that shortfall will be carried forward and added to their debt which will have to be cleared but there will be no other penalty.