asked the Minister for the Environment if he will amend section 17 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 to allow the parents of handicapped children to purchase their purpose-built local authority houses.

21.

asked the Minister for the Environment why the parents of handicapped persons are refused the right to purchase their local authority purpose-built houses in the same way as other local authority tenants are allowed to purchase their houses.

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 21 together.

Section 17 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979 empowers the Minister for the Environment to direct a housing authority to sell or not to sell houses of a specified class and to revoke or amend such a direction.

My predecessors in office directed housing authorities to exclude from their tenant purchase schemes dwellings specifically provided by them for elderly and disabled persons. Because of the continuing need to provide for the special categories of persons involved, I consider it undesirable that such special purpose dwellings, provided out of public funds at high cost, should be lost to the local authority housing stock.

I do not propose to revoke that direction and the question of amendment of the 1979 Act does not arise.

Does the Minister agree that each tenant of a local authority house should be given the opportunity to become the owner of his house through a purchase scheme?

That is normally the case, although disabled and elderly persons houses have been excluded. A circular letter issued to local authorities on 22 February 1980 excluding from tenant purchase schemes dwellings which are purpose-built for the elderly and disabled.

Will the Minister say why he does not consider it appropriate for a family who happen to have a handicapped child to be given an opportunity to purchase their local authority house?

There are reasons——

What is the reason?

When the Deputy was on this side of the House he had an opportunity to do something about it. If parents bought a house and died there could be very high payments to be met, whereas if a disabled person occupied the house they would qualify for the differential rent scheme.

Is the Minister aware that there are a large number of parents of handicapped children in the Galway Corporation area who are residing in purpose-built houses and they are anxious to purchase them? These people are prepared to pay the price laid down by the corporation but because of this ridiculous rule they are deprived of the opportunity to buy the houses and they have therefore made application to be transferred to a four-bedroomed house.

When the Deputy was on this side of the House this letter was issued. The Deputy gives the impression that he is totally innocent of this situation.

If it were possible to sell these houses and if they could be resold into the same scheme I would consider the question, but I would not like to leave them on the open market.

Will the Minister agree to re-examine this matter with a view to changing this outlandish regulation. I do not care who introduced it, it is not just.

I am always anxious to help in this area.