andMr. MacSharry asked the Minister for Local Government the total number of new house grant allocations for the first four months of 1976 and 1975.

3,605 new house grants were allocated in the first four months of 1976 as compared with 5,176 for the same period in 1975. I might add that the number of grants allocated in April, 1976, and included in the foregoing total was abnormally low because certificates relating to the incomes of applicants had not come to hand.

Could the Minister indicate why the number of applications was abnormally low in April, 1976, as against April, 1975?

It is not the applications that are abnormally low. It is the payments that are abnormally low. Certificates of income have to be received and, for some reason, they did not become available in April, 1976. I wondered about it myself. Possibly the local authorities might have delayed sending in the certificates. This happened in most local authorities. Some of them sent them in as usual. We had to ask a big number of them to bring them up to date. I do not think it will happen again.

Is there any good reason for this?

Not that I know of. It is most extraordinary but it is a fact.

When these are sorted out, would the Minister expect the number of payments made in April, 1976, would be in or about the same as in April, 1975?

About the same. The change in the arrangements will not affect payments this year very much, because 17,000 grants will have to be paid anyway.

Question No. 16 postponed.