asked the Minister for Local Government the number of SDA loans approved in 1974, 1975 and 1976; and the percentage change.

The numbers were 11,900, 9,564 and 5,113 respectively. The percentage decrease between 1974 and 1975 was 19.63 and between 1975 and 1976, 46.54.

The total numbers of house-purchase loans approved by the main lending agencies were, as follows: 1972, 19,188; 1973, 19,833; 1974, 20,816; 1975, 25,869; 1976, 25,240.

Has the Minister any proposals to increase the limit of SDA loans in order to attract more borrowers?

That is a separate matter.

No, I have not. The Deputy is aware of the new loans which have been introduced for people who would normally qualify for local authority houses, and I am satisfied that there is adequate finance available to others who want to borrow money to build houses.

There are many people outside the local authority sphere who would like to buy a house but cannot do it.

They can do it if they so wish. Last year building societies lent £100 million and the banks £20 million. For the first two months of this year the net inflow to the building societies was £14 million, and if that continues they will have even more to lend for building during the year; and the banks have again come forward with £20 million. Therefore, I think there will be adequate money available.

As the Minister knows, the SDA scheme is an attractive one and it should be preserved.

When it was at the fixed rate of 9 per cent and the building societies' rate was higher, it was more attractive than it is now; they are now about on a par.

They do not have a fixed rate?

No, they do not have a fixed rate but I think people are prepared to pay the interest rate required.

I know the Minister has made up his mind on this and we are not going to change that. The biggest fear people have about building society loans is that the rate of interest can go up, whereas in the case of a local authority loan the rate of interest applying at the date of obtaining the loan obtains throughout the repayment period.

I am afraid this is not in order.

That is the comment I made to Deputy Moore. I should like to add that there is a considerable amount of building under SDA loans still because there are over 8,290 approved applications on the hands of local authority worth over £27 million. Deputy Callanan is aware that in his county particularly a lot of use is still made of SDA loans by farmers who want only some of the money to build their houses and who find it very useful.

Surely the Minister is aware——

Deputies must confine their questions to the question on the Order Paper.

Surely the Minister is aware of a great outcry all over the country—I might say a unanimous outcry from members of all parties— that the Minister's stand in this matter is very wrong and ill-informed?

The Deputy is entering into another area.

I am aware that many people have been making a lot of noise about it but, when the facts are pointed out to them, they usually agree that they have been misinformed.

Members of the Minister's own party were unanimous that he was wrong in this. It is not enough to say that this blind spot might be caused by his canine colleagues on the opposite benches.

That remark is hardly in order.

It appears that the Minister is very wrong.

A reference to "canine colleagues" is most disorderly.

The junior canine members could make comment.

I hope reference was not being made to me.

No, I would not say "junior" in the Deputy's case.

Having regard to what the Minister said in relation to the figures for SDA loans on the one hand and banks and building societies on the other, does he accept the fact that people who qualify for a SDA loan may not qualify for a bank or building society loan?

There are people who do not qualify for bank or building society loans but they are very few. People who do not normally qualify for bank or building society loans do qualify for the new type of local authority loans which will allow them to build their houses—in fact they would get very much more if they wanted it. Having been in Finance, Deputy Colley will agree with me that it is no function of the State to provide all the money for those who want to build houses no matter how rich they may be. I do not think we will find much disagreement on this point. Those who can borrow money other than from local authorities should be encouraged to do so and I think are doing it in a big way.

Whether or not I agree, I am sure the Minister has a little difficulty in reconciling what he is saying now with what he was saying before the last general election about the necessity for State and local authority involvement.

No, as a matter of fact I have proven what I said before the last general election—that there needed to be a step-up in the number of local authority houses built. This has been carried out because we have doubled the number built by Fianna Fáil. We are now building an average of 25,000 houses per year as against 10,400 in 16 years of Fianna Fáil Administration. Therefore, Deputies should not try that one because it will not work at all.

15.