Vol. 382 No. 9
asked the Minister for the Environment the present average length of time between inspections of completed works for house improvement grants and the issue of cheques to the applicants; and the length of time between sanction for payments in his Department and the issuing of the cheques.
154.
asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the serious delays that exist in the payment of house improvement grants; and if he will take immediate steps to rectify the situation by asking the Minister for Finance to make adequate funds available to his Department to enable them to meet their demands for payments of the said grants.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 146 and 154 together. At present, the average period that elapses between the final inspection of a house and the related claim being finally processed for payment is 10 weeks. The length of time that elapses between the date of sanctioning of a house improvement grant and the payment of the grant, depends mainly on the time it takes for the applicant to complete the relevant improvement works.
