asked the Minister for the Environment the reason for the delay in the payment of a new house grant to a person (details supplied) in County Cork.

There has been no delay in dealing with this case. The person named made two applications relating to two different houses. The later application has been rejected on the grounds that he had previously purchased a house and a decision in regard to the earlier application will be conveyed to the applicant on receipt of a report from the Department's inspector.

Is the Minister aware that two affidavits went in before December last year in relation to that?

I am, and I am having the last application processed as quickly as possible.

That was six months ago.

There was some confusion because it seems that the person purchased two houses.

But he sent in two affidavits explaining the position. The first one was not clear enough and he sent in a second one last November. When did the applicant first apply for the grant?

An application was received in respect of a house in County Cork in January 1980 but was rejected in February 1980 as the person had already purchased a house in County Limerick which qualified for the £1,000 grant.

Is the Minister aware of the hardship being caused to young people because the promised grant is not being paid out for a year or a year and a half?

We had confusion here where two applications were made and we had to get clarification. Since then we got a sworn affidavit to establish that the applicant complied with the conditions attaching to the grant. A statement from the applicants' employer was only received in the Department on 6 March 1981. There was a lot of correspondence in this case. I will be as helpful as possible.

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