asked the Minister for Local Government if he will state the cause of the delay in having reconstruction grants paid to applicants in the Newport area, County Tipperary.

There has been some delay in dealing with applications for reconstruction grants in the Tipperary (North) area, attributable to the fact that the inspector for the area has had to deal with a greatly increased number of applications. The inspector was given assistance last month and, as a result, the arrears have since been considerably reduced.