Would the Minister give a more detailed explanation of the role he now sees the county manager playing vis-à-vis the elected councillors?

I have given a very wide view of the matter.

Now the manager can ignore the decisions of the council.

No. The Deputy cannot have it both ways, He says his party are in full agreement with the provision of halting sites for travelling people and the solving of this problem.

Very much so, but it is not simple.

Indeed it is not. That is why this small change was made. Where local authorities have fallen down on their responsibility to provide halting sites, the county manager has the power if he sees fit to do it himself.

Is it not true that the manager has authority, and sole authority, for the allocation of local authority houses? At present that is a managerial function. Therefore, is it not within the remit of the county manager to allocate local authority houses to travelling families at present?

That is quite correct.

What change is the Minister introducing?

The Deputy is aware that the function of local authority members is to provide funds for various activities, and one of them could be the provision of a halting site.

Could it not be that the manager is falling down on his responsibilities when making decisions on the allocation of new tenancies? As this question deals with Dublin, how many local authority houses have been allocated to travelling families by the Dublin authorities in the last year or two? Has that number been increased in recent years?

By June 1984, 210 families in the corporation and county council areas had been accommodated ——

May I have the annual figure please?

I will give the figures I have available. Following a meeting with the Minister of State and the city manager on 25 June a document on housing travelling families in Dublin was presented by the manager. A summary of this document shows that by June 1984, 210 families in the corporation and council areas had been accommodated in chalets, bungalows or halting sites; 123 families had been offered standard housing in the county council area; 15 families had refused the offer; 26 families had vacated their houses; 18 families were awaiting keys to houses. A total of 367 families, 332 in the county area and 35 in the city area, were still on the roadside. That is the information I have up to 1984.

Is the Minister aware that the number of houses being constructed by Dublin Corporation and Dublin County Council runs into many thousands each year? The number he has given me is over a period greater than one year. The Minister did not say how many years the figure covers. One would take it that it was from the foundation of the State from the way the Minister worded his reply. The number seems to be very small, under 200, whereas in actual fact thousands of houses are being built each year. It is clear from that that the county managers have not been diligent in fulfilling their obligations to the travellers who are applicants for houses like any other section of the community. Very few of them have been granted houses by the county managers in the Dublin area.

Since the Government policy statement on 20 July of this year in regard to accommodation for travellers, three group housing schemes for travelling families in the Dublin area have been approved. These schemes comprise ten, eight and 12 houses in Dunsink Lane, Deansrath and Fortunestown, respectively. In addition Dublin County Council approved a programme of 17 halting sites, five in 1982 and 12 in April 1984. The only site proposal actually submitted to the Department for approval at Bally-coolin has been approved by my Department. Plans for a further six halting sites are awaited by the council. That is the up to date position.

Can the Minister tell the House the number of halting sites which were actually provided as distinct from approvals, the number of new tenancies which were granted to travelling families as against any other global figure on an annual basis? If he cannot give me that information now that time is running out here, would he be prepared to give it to me in the form of a letter?

Yes, indeed. I have given the information available to me.

The remaining questions will appear on next Tuesday's Order Paper.