asked the Minister for Local Government if he will accept the application of a person (name supplied) in County Galway as having been made before 1st January, 1976, in view of the fact that he applied for and completed an application form in July, 1975 which was destroyed and that he reapplied for a form early in December but did not get it until January when the grant system was changed.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Galway Grant Application.
16.
As the only recorded application for a new house grant from the person named was received in my Department on 3rd February, 1976, it cannot be accepted as having been made before 1st January, 1976.
The Minister should be aware that in this case the man applied in July, 1975. The form was destroyed and he applied again, as I stated in the question, in early December, 1975. It was not this man's fault that he did not get the form until 1976. The Minister should consider this again because it was not the man's fault that the form did not reach him until 1976.
I sympathise with the Deputy and with the man he is speaking about but there is no trace in the Department's records of an application or of any correspondence in reference to it having been received prior to this date. Normally forms are sent out within 24 hours of the receipt of the request. The applicant was requested on 4th February to furnish details of his income and valuation to decide whether under new regulations he would qualify, but we have not received any reply from him. Perhaps if he would complete that form we could see the way the story is before going any further. If there is a hope of getting some type of evidence that he applied earlier we would consider it, but there is no question of attempting to prevent him from getting it. The regulations preclude me from making an exception unless I get some evidence.
I sent the application form, which was torn, in a letter in July, 1975. As regards the second letter, the Minister says no application was received in December last. My information is that an application form was applied for in early December but the form was not received until January of this year. Through no fault of this man, he could not have applied for the grant before 1st January.
Would Deputy Callanan let me have a letter stating that he sent in an application form on behalf of this man on a previous date? I will then see what I can do for him.
I sent in a letter applying for a form which he did not get until January.
Many people were given forms but they did not send them in. The house in question was started on 11th July, 1975. He had a lot of time to apply before the date. There is not very much I can do. The Deputy might ask him to complete the form he has and send it back anyway. We have not heard from him since 4th February last. He may still qualify under another heading. There is no point in pursuing it at one level if he qualifies under another heading.
When he read the regulations in the newspaper he asked me if I would write to the Minister and enclose the original application form, which got torn—a child tore it. He asked me to explain the delay and the reason why he had not sent it in. The reply I got from the Minister was that the man was out, and that is the reason for the question.
I will have a further look at it but as I have told the Deputy I am precluded by the regulations unless I can get some kind of evidence.