asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that expenditure of £710,000 on an overdraft will have to be carried by Louth County Council because her Department did not finance the recoupment to Louth County Council for many months; and further, that the local authority is not able to recover any interest arising from the said overdraft; if she has any plans to eliminate this burden from local authorities in view of the serious financial difficulties being encountered by Louth County Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Louth County Council Expenditure.
9.
It is assumed that the question relates to the recoupment of expenditure by Louth County Council on higher education grants.
Since the introduction of the higher education grants scheme in 1968, recoupment in respect of the local authorities expenditure in a particular financial year is paid by my Department in the following financial year. There was no undue delay in the payment early this year or recoupment to Louth County Council in respect of its expenditure in 1987. In accordance with the provisions of the Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Act, 1968, recoupment is payable only in respect of the cost of the grants awarded and paid by an authority and, accordingly, the amount in respect of interest charges cannot be included in the recoupment.
Is the Minister saying in relation to the statutory obligation which requires a local authority to administer the grant scheme that when it has an interest charge attached to it, that the interest charges which arise specifically from the timelag between the sanction and the Minister's Department giving out the money to the local authority must be borne from the local authority's budget?
I am perfectly willing to answer in a national sense but I would draw the attention of the House to the fact that the question related to Louth. The Local Authorities (Higher Education Grants) Act, 1968 only allows for payment in respect of the cost of the grants awarded and paid by local authorities. There is no provision, therefore, for the payment of any interest charges if incurred by a local authority in connection with the award of the higher education grants. In relation to the question about County Louth, which was tabled by Deputy Bell, I would point out that Louth County Council's application for recoupment in respect of its expenditure in 1987 was received in my Department on 7 January 1988 and payments was made on 13 January 1988, exactly six days later. A supplementary claim received on 19 February 1988 was paid six days later on 25 February 1988. That shows great celerity.