andDr. McCarthy asked the Minister for the Environment the number of applications received to date for the new house improvement grant scheme; the number of these applications which have already been inspected; the average waiting period; the number of inspectors employed in the country; and the number in each respective county.
Written Answers. - New House Improvement Grant Scheme.
105.
A total of 24,700 applications had been received up to and including 17 January, and of these 5,000 approximately have been inspected. In view of the short period the scheme is in operation it is not possible to give an average length of time between the submission of an application and the carrying out of an inspection. The number of inspectors employed is 64, some of whom are also engaged on inspections on new houses. The inspectors are deployed on a regional rather than a county basis and in addition, they can be redeployed to assist in meeting a very heavy workload in any particular area.