asked the Minister for the Environment when the remainder of the funds promised to the Dara Park, Newbridge, County Kildare, remedial work scheme will be made available for the low cost housing scheme.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dara Park, Newbridge, Remedial Work Scheme.
8.
I have allocated £60,000 to Kildare County Council for the initial phase of remedial works to Dara Park in respect of anticipated expenditure this year. A pilot scheme is at present under way and, following the evaluation of the technical and cost results of this work, the allocation of additional funds will be considered.
Is the Minister aware of the absolutely, totally, unsuitable nature of the houses we are talking about? They are cardboard boxes. They are unsuitable for human habitation. They were built as low cost houses to save public funds and will now be the cause of wasting a large amount of public funds. Is the Minister further aware that this scheme was not alone built of cardboard, by and large, but the sewerage scheme did not work and no money was provided to the local authority to correct it over a number of years? All they could do was to give the tenants sandbags to keep the sewage out of their houses every time it rained. In view of this I ask the Minister to agree that at least the £60,000 which has been provided should be allowed to be spent forthwith by the local authority. They are ready; the pilot scheme has been completed; the Department have been advised of that. I ask the Minister to allow the £60,000 to be spent.
I do not think I should pursue that much further now because there is a strong indication that that revised allocation might not even be fully expended this year. But it is available to be spent. The Deputy may take it from me that I must be in a very good humour today because I am sympathetic to this case as well and the four house pilot scheme the Deputy has referred to is going ahead.
It is completed.
The money is not fully expended but it is my intention to extend the contract for a further six dwellings. The Deputy has made a good case in relation to this type of low cost dwelling that has proved such a great expense by way of expenditure on remedial works over the past few years.
This scheme requires the tenants to pay part of the cost and the houses are in the condition they are in through no fault of the tenants.
The Deputy is introducing a new element into this.
It is the same scheme.
It is an extension of the subject matter of the question.
I ask the Minister to consider adjusting the scheme to ensure that the tenants are not asked to pay part of the cost when it is no fault of theirs——
That is a separate matter.
As the Deputy knows, this kind of scheme is subsidisable at the rate of 80 per cent in respect of rented dwellings and 40 per cent in respect of purchased dwellings. I think that is reasonable in the circumstances.