asked the Minister for Local Government if he will indicate why grants from the Transition Development Fund have not yet been allocated to the cork Corporation for 212 houses at Ballyphehane No. 1 scheme and the amount per house which it is proposed to pay; further, whether any payments from the Transition Development Fund have been made in respect of Ballyphehane No. 2 and Baker's Lane No. 3 schemes; and, if so, if he will state the total amount and the amount per house which it is proposed to pay.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cork Housing Grants.
Grants totalling £47,242 have been provisionally allocated in respect of the scheme of 212 houses at Ballyphehane No. 1. This is equivalent to a grant of £249 for each of the 190 houses concerned. The scheme includes 22 "reserved houses" each of which will qualify for a grant not exceeding £250 under Section 27 of the Housing (Amendment) Act, 1948.
Grants amounting to £27,791, or £339 per house, have been provisionally allocated in the case of the 82-house scheme at Ballyphehane No. 2, and grants of £79,200, or £400 per house, in respect of 198 houses in the Baker's Lane No. 3 scheme. In the case of the Ballyphehane No. 2 scheme revised rent proposals have recently been submitted to me by the corporation. These proposals are at present under consideration and, if agreed to, will affect the amount of the grant provisionally allocated.
Payments on account of grants amounting to £111,080, have been made in respect of the schemes at Ballyphehane No. 1, Ballyphehane No. 2 and Baker's Lane No. 3. It is not possible to apportion between the individual schemes the amounts so paid on account.
Would the Minister indicate in what way the rents affect the grants? Does it mean that the grants will be reduced? I understood him to say that the grants will affect the rents.
If the proposal is to reduce the rents, it will increase the amounts of the grants available.
I understood from the Minister last week that the rents were before his Department waiting to be sanctioned. Am I to understand now that the grants will be reduced?
The Deputy must understand that the matter of the fixation of the amount paid per house is now closed since the 1st April last and also that a number of factors enter into the determination of the amount paid in respect of each house. The amount of the rent charged, the contribution that is made from the rates, and so forth, are factors that determine the amount per house that will be charged. If the rents fixed originally are on the high side and result in the amount of grant being reduced, and should a proposition come from the local body concerned to reduce the rents and should such a proposition be sanctioned by the Department then that would have the effect of increasing the amount of the grant per house.
Is it the position that the higher the rent the manager fixes —not the local authority, because the manager out-vetoes them—the smaller the grant which the Cork Corporation will get?
The question of the rent is not the only factor in determining the grant.
Is it the position that the amount received from the fund is dependent on the rent fixed?
Quite right.
If the Deputy had put it the other way round he would be correct. The amount of rent charged, plus the contribution made from the rates towards the cost of the house, are two factors which contribute largely in determining whether or not the maximum grant will be paid from the fund.