Vol. 554 No. 5
1497 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his Department will investigate a situation where a person (details supplied) in County Leitrim has been refused a first time buyer's grant on the grounds that they previously owned a house in England. [16095/02]
1538 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason an application for a first time buyer's grant made by a person (details supplied) in County Leitrim has been rejected on the grounds that this person had already bought a house in England many years ago. [16607/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1497 and 1538 together.
A first time owner occupier's grant cannot be allowed in this case, as contrary to condition of the scheme, the applicants previously owned a house.
1498 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will consider a plan for funding waste management through levies on non-recyclable and non-biodegradable waste, and to review the basis for allocating the local Government fund, and to include in the formula for distributing the local Government fund compensation in respect of exemptions of rates. [16096/02]
Levies already exist in respect of the disposal of non-recyclable and non-biodegradable waste and revenues from these levies are paid into the environment fund.
A comprehensive review of the needs and resources model, which is used in the distribution of general purpose grants from the local government fund, is currently under way. A high level evaluation of the principles and overall structure of the model is being carried out by independent consultants and this will be supplemented by a review to be carried out over the coming months by the Department in co-operation with local authorities, of the individual parameters in the model, including rates.
