asked the Minister for the Environment the number of applications for house improvement grants received since the introduction of the new scheme; the number of applications presently being processed; and the number of additional staff recruited by his Department to deal with grant applications since its introduction.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - House Improvement Grants Scheme.
7.
The total number of applications received up to 14 March 1986 was about 54,000 which are now at various stages of processing. A total of about 90 additional staff have been assigned to house improvement work since the introduction of the new scheme.
I have a priority question dealing with this matter for reply today and I will not pursue this fully at this stage. I should like to point out to the Minister that the Estimates include a figure of £24 million to cover the reconstruction grant scheme for 1986. Will he explain to us how he envisages that amount being adequate enough to cover 54,000 applications?
Question No. 43 deals with that matter.
I have a reply prepared to that question.
Will the Minister give me the reply now?
It would be better to get the reply at the appropriate stage.
It is appropriate to the question I put to the Minister.
The Minister has said he has the answer in another brief and there is little sense in answering Question No. 43 now.
I have more time to deal with the matter now than I will when I raise my priority question. The supplementary is relevant.
A supplementary is not appropriate when a matter specifically arises on a later question.
It does not specifically arise out of the priority question. My priority question asks the Minister the estimated cost of the reconstruction grant applications approved without inspection, a different matter altogether. My supplementary related to the 54,000 applications the Minister said he has received and that is not the same as a question about the number of grants approved without inspection. How does the Minister envisage £24 million being the appropriate sum to pay for 54,000 applications?
If the Chair wishes I will deal with Question No. 43.
Does the Minister intend answering two questions together?
In the course of his reply the Minister said that overall he had received 54,000 applications and my priority question deals with the cost of applications approved without inspection. My supplementary asked the Minister of State how he will cover the payment of grants to 54,000 applicants out of £24 million?
It is estimated that grants totalling £45 million approximately may ultimately fall due for payment on foot of applications covered by the dispensation from prior inspection. We are now getting into the area covered by the priority question.
It is a different question.
The Minister is answering questions and the Chair has no objection to him giving the information but if the Minister says he has the information in a brief for a later question then in the Chair's opinion, it should be deferred until that question is called.
The Minister has told us that the applications approved without inspection will cost £45 million but my supplementary referred to the fact that the Minister told us that up to 14 March there were 54,000 applications on hand. I asked him how much those applications would cost and if he thought £24 million would cover them.
The Minister indicated that he had that information on a file for a later question.
And he proceeded to say that £45 million was the estimated cost of the applications approved without prior inspection. I asked the Minister how much the 54,000 applications would cost, a different question.
Applications have to be processed to a finality, whether prior inspections have been waived or not. Our estimate in the case of those not requiring prior inspection is £45 million. I am delighted at the response to the scheme. The Opposition have been assailing this side of the House for a long time to make more money available for the building industry but when we do something positive and make money available they are still not happy. One must ask, what will make them happy?
In the revised Book of Estimates issued last week a figure of £24 million is included under subhead D.3 for all grants this year but the Minister has told us that he has received 54,000 applications to date and that applications approved without prior inspection will cost £45 million. I am anxious to know how much the 54,000 applications will cost and how he intends to pay them when he has only £24 million in the Estimate?
When the applications are processed and permission is given to go ahead with the work we will be able to assess the cost. I can only estimate the cost of applications that have been approved.
That is a nonsense.
Deputy Burke has succeeded in enlarging the question by getting it mixed up with a later question. The Chair is not going to allow this get out of hand. I am moving to the next question.
The Minister has said that he will be able to calculate the figure when the work has commenced——
I said I will be able to calculate a figure when the applications have been processed and the go-ahead given.
The Minister has already given the go-ahead under the letter concerning prior inspection.
I have given the Deputy a costing for that.
The Minister has not given me a costing for the balance of the applications.
I have not done so because I do not have the figure.
Is it a question of giving a figure off the top of his head?
I cannot give figures until I know the position exactly.
A figure has been included in the Book of Estimates.
The Deputy is referring to the 54,000 applications and when they are processed and the go-ahead given to start work I will be able to calculate the cost.
Where did the Minister get the figure of £24 million?
The Deputy is perturbed because the scheme is a success. A total of 54,000 applications have been received for home improvement grants——
And the Department is in chaos as a result of the scheme.
——and that must be sticking in the Deputy's throat.
But the Government have only included £24 million for that work in the Book of Estimates.
This is a success story and I am sorry if the Deputy does not like it. The building industry like the scheme and more people will get work as a result of it.
The Minister should not be bluffing. The Minister is not going to escape on this because he will return to it when we deal with my priority question.
I will be delighted to return to the matter because I want to keep rubbing into the Deputy the fact that the scheme proved such a great success.
And only £24 million has been provided in the Book of Estimates.