asked the Minister for the Environment if he will make money available to the Housing Finance Agency so that qualified applicants awaiting payments in County Kildare can be issued with these loans.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Housing Finance Agency Funds.
14.
I have recently authorised an increase of £7 million in the Housing Finance Agency's capital allocation bringing the total available to them in 1984 to £70 million which should ensure that there will be no undue delay in the payment of loans which have matured. The administration of their loan scheme is entirely the responsibility of the agency and the individual local authorities which operate the scheme on the agency's behalf. The distribution, within their total capital allocation, of funds between local authorities to enable loans to be paid as they mature is also a matter for the agency.
While one must welcome this allocation which is better late than never, I wonder if the Minister realises that applicants whose loans were sanctioned started building when they got the promise of the loans. However, when substantial payments were due money was not made available by the State and, therefore, they were faced with unnecessary, heavy interest payments to the tune of hundreds of pounds because this promise was not honoured. Will the Minister indicate if it is correct that while a sum of £1.2 million has been sought by Kildare County Council only £300,000 has been made available for this scheme?
I have not got figures with regard to the Kildare County Council but I can assure the Deputy that as loans mature during the year they will be met and I indicated that in my reply.
Is the Minister aware that applicants for loans from the Housing Finance Agency whose loans were approved were not paid them because the agency had run out of money? Because of that, as Deputy Power has quite rightly said, these people have been involved in heavy interest payments on bridging loans they would not otherwise have had to pay. If the Minister is aware of this — he must be if he is in any way briefed on his Department's responsibilities — what is he going to do to compensate these people for the heavy interest payments they had to meet because of the inability of the Housing Finance Agency to meet their commitments?
A sum of £63 million was made available this year and up to the third week in October £57 million was paid out. A sum of £13 million is available from now to the end of the year. The balance of £6 million plus the additional £7 million gives a total of £13 million to meet outstanding payments from now until the end of the year and this will be adequate to meet the demand.
Will the Minister please answer my supplementary question?
The Deputy's question is really a separate question.
It is not, it has to do with the availability of funds to the Housing Finance Agency. Is the Minister aware that people had their loans approved but the agency were not able to pay the loans because they had run out of cash in certain counties as they all got different allocations? Is the Minister aware that happened and, if so, what steps he proposes taking to compensate those people for the additional interest payments they have had to meet?
I am aware that certain counties ran out of money and that is why we have made an additional £7 million available.
What about those people who were approved for loans but who have not been paid?
That is a matter for the agency and the local authorities concerned. We have made the money available.
Is the Minister disclaiming all responsibility for the operations of the Housing Finance Agency.
I am not.
Can the Minister explain the situation that, as he says, there was money available up to a certain week in October but that some counties ran out of money? In my county we ran out of money because we paid people whose loans had been approved and when we sought the money from the State it was not made available to us. Why should that happen if, as the Minister says, moneys were available?
Allocations were made to the various counties by the Housing Finance Agency. As I have indicated, that is a matter in respect of which the agency have control. They informed us that there was a shortfall in some counties and, consequently, we have made an additional £7 million available.
Can the Minister confirm that the £7 million which was transferred to the Housing Finance Agency loan fund caused a reduction in other funds within the Department for the year 1984? In the sanction from the Department of Finance, it was confirmed that the £7 million had to be taken from other funds?
The £7 million is in addition to the £63 million.
That is not what I asked. I asked the Minister to confirm whether this £7 million was in addition to the moneys allocated to the Department of the Environment or whether it was deducted from the capital that the Department had already been allocated.
I have said that it was an additional £7 million to the Department.
Is the Minister prepared to stand over that?
Yes.
The remaining Questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.