Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Sep 2003

Vol. 571 No. 1

Written Answers. - Housing Grants.

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

1274 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the reason for his decision to insist on a completion date of 14 November 2003 in respect of applications for first-time buyer's grants (details supplied); if his attention has been drawn to the fact that all applicants in this affordable housing scheme had paid their deposit on 11 September 2002; the basis of this policy change; when his policy changed in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20173/03]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. N. Ahern)

The termination of this scheme was a difficult decision that the Government was required to take in order to ensure a sustainable match between Government resources and expenditure. One of the stipulations that was clearly outlined to applicants in correspondence and through advertisements in the media was that people must have occupied their new homes by November 13, 2003. This deadline was adopted to achieve closure for the scheme, to allow re-prioritisation of this budget provision to other housing and social programmes and to prevent speculative applications on houses which may not be built for years to come.

However, I am very aware that difficulties are being faced by some housing grant applicants, such as those mentioned in the question, in meeting the deadline of completing and occupying their new homes through no fault of their own. With this in mind, consideration is being given by my Department as to how these difficulties might be addressed bearing in mind the need to ensure fair treatment and to achieve closure on the scheme.