There are a few points to which I would like to draw the Minister's attention. I agree, of course, with the Milk and Dairies Act in so far as it is improving the conditions under which milk and milk products are being produced in the country, but some very grave hardships are arising out of the enforcement of the Act. There have been people, living a mile or two from a town, who have been producing milk under fairly good conditions, but not, perhaps, up to the standard required. They may have seven, eight, nine, ten or 15 cows. Under this Act they have been practically put out of business completely. I would like to know from the Minister if he is taking any steps to accommodate these people who are being put out of business by authorising the Agricultural Credit Corporation to extend loan facilities to them for the establishment of suitable houses for cattle. I know several cases all over the country where a family was working hard, not making very much money, and the cowsheds had not suitable floors or a suitable lighting system. The result was that they were condemned, and these poor unfortunate people were pushed out of business if they were not able to build or reconstruct the out-offices so as to bring them to the required standard. I agree that it is very suitable and very essential that a high standard should be required, but in a case like that some facilities should be made available for these farmers in order to enable them to reconstruct their out-offices. They should not be put out of business completely.
On the question of housing, a rather strange situation has developed all over the country regarding the reconstruction grants. This work of the reconstruction of houses is one of the things that I have always approved under the Fianna Fáil Administration. It is an admirable work, as I told the Minister here on former occasions. During the past two or three years, however, the system has grown up so that a reconstruction estimate must be round £80 or £90 before the £40 grant will be paid. That, I think, is unfair. It is unfair in the sense that if I was not able to reconstruct my house until this year I am penalised to the extent of £10 or £15, or maybe £20. That was not the case in the early stages. I know of hundreds of cases in the County Longford where, say, the reconstruction estimate was £50. In these cases the grant given is not more than £25 or £30. During the first couple of years, if the reconstruction estimate was, say, £53, the full £40 was given by way of grant. There is no doubt that in recent years the cost of building materials has increased considerably. When one takes into account the provisions of the Conditions of Employment Act and other things, the cost of reconstructing a house may be said to have considerably increased in late years. The reconstruction of houses is an eminently desirable work, and it is unfair, I submit, to people who are anxious to undertake it that they should be penalised by reducing the amount of the grant.
I also wish to complain about the delay there is in making payments. In several counties, particularly in the counties of Longford and Roscommon and in portions of Leitrim and Westmeath, large numbers of houses have been completed and not inspected. I am of the opinion that the inspection system is too cumbersome. I think it should be eased somewhat, and that the inspections should be expedited. The county council officials—county surveyors and assistant county surveyors—could be asked to take part in this inspection work if the Department of Local Government so desired it, and without very much expense, if any.
On the question of new houses I have not much to say except that I think two points should be attended to. In the first place, I think the valuation should not be kept at £25, as at present. It should be extended to £35 or £40. Of course, I know the Minister will argue that if he extended it to £45 there would still be a border-line case of £45 1s. that would debar some applicant. I am aware of that, but still I think that if the valuation were extended to the figure I urge, the additional money spent would be devoted to a most worthy object. It would lead to an improvement in the health of the people. It would be far better to have money spent in that direction than in many others that I need not go into.
With regard to the floor space of houses, there are hundreds of farmers all over the country who, because the floor space of the old ramshackle houses they occupy exceeds a certain figure, are not eligible for grants. Their houses are really more in need of reconstruction than some of the tidy, compact houses that qualify for a grant. You have many a poor farmer who is in a far worse position financially than his neighbour who has a three or a four-roomed house, and because the floor space of his house exceeds a certain limit he cannot get the grant. That is under a regulation made by the Minister which is like the regulation at the Curragh Camp of which the old sergeant-major said that in his opinion regulations were only made to be broken. If the Minister so desired it, he could keep the regulation there to suit his purpose, and change it when he was perfectly satisfied that it would suit a better purpose. In these circumstances, I think that the method of measurement could be altered under the regulation without amending the Act. If that were done it would assist a large number of people all over the country to provide themselves with better living conditions in their homes.
I quite admit that these reconstruction grants have done much to improve the housing conditions of the people. I gladly pay tribute to the Department and the Government for their services and activities in that direction. In conclusion, I hope that the Minister will see his way to make the few alterations I have suggested. In the first place, I hope he will increase the valuation to the figure I have mentioned; secondly, that where the reconstruction estimate is £50 and over, the full £40 grant will be given, and, thirdly, that an alteration will be made in the method of calculating floor space. If this last alteration were made it would mean that a large number of houses, badly in need of reconstruction, would come within the terms of the regulation, and that the occupiers would qualify for the payment of grants.
