asked the Minister for the Environment why Meath County Council have not yet obtained sanction for loans to carry out local authority housing schemes at Trim, Kells and Kilberry, County Meath, although a contractor has been given the contracts for the jobs; and when sanction will be given.
Written Answers. - Meath Housing Schemes.
434.
The housing schemes referred to by the Deputy are all devolved schemes comprising 60 houses or fewer. Meath County Council finances expenditure on such schemes from bulk loans from the Local Loans Fund. A loan of £1,300,000 applied for by the council on 10 January 1978 for devolved schemes was sanctioned by my Department on 24 February 1978. There are no further loan applications for devolved schemes from the county council before me.
The county council will, of course, have to operate within the limit of the capital allocation for their local authority housing construction programme in 1978, which to date amounts to £1,373,000. It is for the council to decide when they should start individual schemes within the resources made available to them. Expenditure on the local authority housing construction programme generally will be reviewed later this year and further moneys may be allocated within available resources to the council to enable them to make additional starts later this year.