asked the Minister for the Environment the amount of money provided for the building of houses in Letterkenny town, County Donegal, to be spent in the next 12 months; the number of applications which were received by the urban district council for the recently completed housing scheme; and the total number of children in those families whose applications were unsuccessful.
Written Answers. - County Donegal Housing.
90.
Letterkenny Urban District Council's application for a capital allocation to finance their 1981 housing programme is being considered in conjunction with similar claims submitted by other housing authorities. Notification of the 1981 capital allocations will issue to individual local authorities shortly.
Details of the number of applications which were received in respect of a housing scheme just completed and of the unsuccessful applications are not available in my Department.
91.
asked the Minister for the Environment the amount of money being made available to Buncrana Urban District Council, County Donegal, for building houses in the area in the current year; the number of houses to be provided; and the number of families on the council's waiting list.
93.
asked the Minister for the Environment the total amount allocated to Donegal County Council in 1981 for the building of scheme houses, SI cottages and demountable dwellings; the number expected to be provided; and the number of families on the council's waiting list for such housing.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 and 93 together. Buncrana Urban District and Donegal County Councils' applications for a capital allocation to finance their 1981 housing programmes are being examined in conjunction with similar claims submitted by other housing authorities. Notification of the allocations will issue to individual local authorities shortly.
Details of the number of houses in each of the categories specified are not available in my Department. According to the latest information available in the Department, Buncrana Urban District Council had a total of 57 approved applicants and Donegal County Council has a total of 1,350 approved applicants on their waiting lists at 30 September 1980.
92.
asked the Minister for the Environment the number of years it will take to provide houses for all the families in County Donegal who are on the county council's waiting list having regard to the present rate of progress in the construction of houses.
It is not possible for me to say how long it will take Donegal County Council to rehouse the approved applicants on their present waiting list. While the initiation of their building programme is a matter in the first instance for the council, the level of the programme must be determined by such factors as the degree of priority of applicants' needs, the availability of serviced sites, the capacity of the building industry in the area and the amount of capital resources which can be made available to implement the programme.
Over the past four years, an average of 284 applicants were rehoused by the council. At 31 January 1981 the council had 315 houses in progress, 334 houses at tender stage and 283 in planning. Sites for a further 629 houses have been acquired or are being acquired.